Advent Monday 1 – Feast of St. Francis Xavier
Readings: Isaiah 4:2-6, Psalm 122, Matthew 8:5-11.
Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), the Jesuit missionary who preached the Catholic faith and won many converts in India and Japan in a mission lasting just ten years. His missionary zeal has been described as unmatched since the time of the apostles. He was the first to preach the Catholic faith to the people of Japan.
In the gospel today we see Our Lord meeting the centurion of great faith. As we begin our preparation for Christmas and our eager and joyful expectation of the coming of Emmanuel this gospel teaches us to put our trust in the power of the Lord Jesus to heal us of all our ills. We see Our Lord eager to help the centurion’s servant, not reluctant to enter a place of suffering and sickness. In a similar way God enters into our hearts when we receive his sacred body and blood in holy communion after repeating the words of the centurion “Domine non sum dignus”, “Lord I am not worthy”. Truly, we are not worthy to receive our Lord and saviour but he will come into this world of sin to save us. May we, through the merit gained by the sufferings of St. Francis Xavier, learn to place all our hope for ourselves and for those we love in the Lord who humbled himself to be born as a man.
