St. Francis Xavier, Priest

Isaiah’s vision in today’s first reading is beautiful:  that of the “mountain of the Lord’s house.” This is not a house whose entrance is meant to be guarded by sentinels, bull-headed bouncers who check “the guest list” at the door to determine one’s entrance.  Instead we hear “all nations shall stream toward it.” All are welcome! Our Church continues to emphasize this vision. As Nostra Aetate (the Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions) reads from the Second Vatican Council, “In her [the Catholic Church’s] task of fostering unity and love among humanity, and even among nations, she gives primary consideration in this document to what human beings have in common and to what promotes fellowship among them.”  (n.1) Pope Francis goes on to say, “the Church will be ever more committed to travel along the path of dialogue and to intensify the already fruitful cooperation with all those who, belonging to different religious traditions, share her intention to build relations of friendship and share in the many initiatives to do with dialogue.”  
  
The further into lands of “difference” that Francis Xavier traveled, the more he came to find God in all places and all people.  While trying to unify the world under Christ, Xavier was discovering the depth and extent of differences. He learned that God was revealed within those differences.

At first, differences were viewed as obstacles to his goal. Later, he discovered the variety and beauty of languages, faiths, cultures and living conditions. He began to feel and know God's work.  He was transformed in his understanding of ‘difference’ and ‘oneness’. While his work had a profound influence on others, he came to recognize that he was equally influenced through the interactions and contacts.  As former Superior General Fr. Peter Hans-Kolvenbach, S.J. stated, ‘When the heart is touch by direct contact, the mind may be challenged to change’ (SCU, 2000).” (https://www.xavier.edu/mission-identity/xaviers-mission/who-is-francis-xavier)

The Society of Jesus continues to carry this mantle passed on from Xavier to this day.

This is much more than just tolerance of religious difference (or any difference, for that matter).  This is about celebrating the gift that the other is to our world, and can be to our life, if we are open to it. This is what heaven on earth is like. We don’t bemoan the fact that we must tolerate each other, but, as the Psalmist says today, we “rejoice” in the gift of being able to actually celebrate each other.

If we can do this well, perhaps the beautiful vision of Isaiah of beating “our swords into plowshares” and our “spears into pruning hooks” actually has a shot and we can use these new tools to reap the bountiful harvest of gifts that come from a human family that savors the beauty of “the other” and feast “at the banquet of the Kingdom of heaven.”  (MT 8:11