Evangelizing With the Heart of St. Francis Xavier

Obedience to this command given by Jesus encapsulates the life of the saint we celebrate today, St. Francis Xavier. St. Francis Xavier was one of the greatest evangelizers of the Catholic faith in the history of the Church. It’s reported that between 1542 and 1552—a ministry of just ten years—he brought more than 700,000 souls to Christ throughout India and Japan. In addition, along with St. Ignatius of Loyola and five other men, he was one of the founders of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits.

With this being the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, our readings today appropriately focus on evangelical zeal. They serve as a great reminder that God calls all of us (not just ordained clergy) to share the faith with others in our daily lives, even when it’s a little uncomfortable. Proclaiming the Gospel and helping others encounter Christ is particularly important during this Advent season, in which we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, God incarnate, coming into our world, as well as preparing our hearts to meet the Lord face-to-face either at the end of our earthly life or when He comes in glory.

Unfortunately, many of us don’t realize that living the Christian life is not only about our personal spiritual life and our relationship with the Lord; it’s also about how we affect the faith of everyone we meet. Do we help draw others closer to the Lord, or push them farther away? It’s about how we proclaim the Gospel through the life we live—by our words and actions—and how we share our time, talent, and treasure with others. Every one of us has been given incredible spiritual gifts. These gifts have come to us by virtue of the grace we received at our Baptism, and then again at our Confirmation, through which our baptismal grace was perfected.

Paragraph 1303 of the Catechism tells us that: 


Paragraph 1304 goes on to say that:


Whether we realize it or not, whether we accept it or not, whether we act on it or not, God has already given us the power to publicly profess our faith in Christ. So, when Jesus gives us the command to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature,” He knows we can do it because He has already given us everything we need to do so.

It’s clear that this was very important to Jesus because it was one of the last things He told His Apostles before He ascended into heaven, and the next thing He told them was why it was so important. Jesus said, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” He seems pretty clear on the subject, doesn’t He? Believe and be baptized, and we will be saved; don’t believe and be baptized, and we will be condemned. This is Jesus speaking, and He loves every person who has ever been born more than we can imagine. Jesus wants all people to be saved by believing in Him and being baptized.

We have to understand that believing in Jesus is not enough. We don’t become a Christian by just believing in Him. The Letter of St. James 2:19 tells us that even the demons believe in Him. We must believe and be baptized. Jesus points this out again in the Gospel of John 3:5, where He says, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” After Baptism, the only thing that can separate us from God is our own sinful choices and decisions, but even then, we are still God’s children, and He will never reject us. He will always be there, ready to forgive our sins if we will only come to Him in humility and ask His forgiveness. He knows we will stray. He knows we will sin. That’s why He gave us the Sacrament of Confession—to repair our relationship with Him when, through sin, we have broken it.

It has always seemed strange to me that many Christian denominations choose to ignore these very strong statements from Jesus and don’t believe that Baptism is regenerative—meaning all our sins are forgiven—or necessary for salvation. Just so there’s no misunderstanding, this doesn’t mean that all people who are not baptized will go to hell. It does mean that since Jesus gave us Baptism as the “ordinary” way to become a child of God and have the opportunity for salvation, we should all be baptized. However, since God doesn’t hold us accountable for things we have no knowledge of, if we never knew or fully understood the importance Jesus places on Baptism, He can and does find other “extraordinary” ways to lead the unbaptized to heaven. Jesus wants salvation for all people, and He loves us so much that He will do everything He can to lead us to eternal happiness in heaven—but He won’t force anyone to follow along His narrow way.

I have heard it said—and I believe it’s true—that anything you can do for thirty days, you can do for the rest of your life. During this Lenten season, let us find ways to focus our lives more fully on Christ, establishing new habits of prayer, self-denial, and works of mercy that will lead us to live more like St. Francis Xavier and share his eagerness to overcome any obstacle to lead others to know Christ’s love.

Amen.