St. Francis Xavier Against Archbishop Fitzgerald:

Tradition In Action ^ | 1/04 | Gary Morella

[Land of the Irish]

HOT TOPICS: Fatima Interfaith Congress and Shrine




St. Francis Xavier Against Archbishop Fitzgerald:
Those Outside the Catholic Church
Need to Convert


Gary Morella

It seems that many who call themselves "Catholic" today are more than a little lukewarm when it comes to spreading the Gospel. Read on as St. Francis gives the modern Church an idea of what constitutes "proper evangelization." It contrasts strongly with the message that conversion is no longer necessary that was preached by Archbishop Fitzgerald and Fr. Jacques Dupuis at the Interfaith Congress at Fatima in October 2003.


A Letter from St. Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier preaching the Catholic truth without compromise.

He writes this after a number of years laboring in the orient far from what he set out much earlier in his ambitious youth to do as a scholar:

"Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel! We have visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a few years ago. No Portuguese live here the country is so utterly barren and poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God's Law.

"I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters all the children who had not yet been baptised. This means that I have purified a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I began to understand: 'The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'

"I could not refuse so devout a request without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence. If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no doubt that they would make excellent Christians.

"Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: 'What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!'

"I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.

"This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God¹s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: 'Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like - even to India.'"

 
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[Land of the Irish]

It seems that many who call themselves "Catholic" today are more than a little lukewarm when it comes to spreading the Gospel. Read on as St. Francis gives the modern Church an idea of what constitutes "proper evangelization." It contrasts strongly with the message that conversion is no longer necessary that was preached by Archbishop Fitzgerald and Fr. Jacques Dupuis at the Interfaith Congress at Fatima in October 2003.

[Land of the Irish]

Ping

[Salvation]

What kind of evangelization are you involved in at your church?

For me, I have been instrumental in organizing Disciples in Mission (a faith sharing evangelization prorgram endorsed by the Catholic Bishops)["Go and Make Disciples" is the bishops' document] in our parish and I also help with with a six week series for returning Catholics. We are starting our third year and have seen nearly 25 people come through our classes with about two-thirds of those returning to the church.

[attagirl]

That's beautiful. Thanks for the ping. There does seem to be a lot of confusion on this point, doesn't there?

[Land of the Irish]

What kind of evangelization are you involved in at your church?

Nothing like yours. I am not an Eucharistic minister nor a lecturer/homilist. They don't exist at my church. I do serve as an acolyte at some Masses when the young servers are not available.

I stand in silent protest before an abortion clinic on Saturday mornings. Sadly, the only other people I meet out there are my fellow parishoners and some who attend the Indult Mass. No animosity amongst us out there. I've been to their church and they've been to mine.

A couple of months ago, an elderly gentlemen stopped outside the clinic and gave me a framed picture of his beautiful, 13-year old granddaughter. He thanked us. He said he had brought his daughter to that clinic 3 times to have an abortion; but they turned back each time, out of guilt when they saw us out there with our posters and rosaries.(We get there before the baby-killer arrives and won't leave until he does. He's even tried to sick the law on us, to no avail.)

Grandfather, daughter and grandaughter are now all traditional Catholics.

I also teach cathechism classes to children before their First Confession and First Communion, in that order.

A final note: That baby-killer doctor is a practicing Novus Ordo "Catholic".

[Salvation]

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
Memorial
December 3rd


Saint Francis Xavier
Andrea Pozzo - 1701 -- Oil on canvas
Kiscelli Museum, Budapest

Go and teach my gospel to all people, said the Lord. I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew 28: 19, 20

---

Francis Xavier, one of the greatest missionaries of all time, was born in Navarre, Spain, April 6, 1506, studied in Paris where he met Ignatius of Loyola, and was one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).

Soon after the Society of Jesus was officially recognized (1540), he began his work of evangelization. His amazing zeal for spreading the Gospel and his remarkably extensive missionary journeys, overcoming great obstacles, during a mere ten years (May 6, 1542 - December 2, 1552), led to the establishment of missions and Churches in India and southeast Asia, as well as in Japan. Countless conversions resulted from his tireless, difficult and very often dangerous work. He is justly considered to be the greatest missionary since the time of the Apostles.

While he was preparing to begin work in China, Francis Xavier suddenly became ill and died on the island of Sancian, near the China coast, on December 2, 1552. He was canonized with St. Ignatius in 1622, although because of the death of Pope Gregory XV, the Bull of canonization was not published until the following year

---

Collect:
God our Father, by the preaching of Francis Xavier You brought many nations to Yourself.
Give his zeal for the faith to all who believe in You,
that Your Church may rejoice in continued growth throughout the world.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: 1 Corinthians 9:16-19,22-23
For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel.

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.


Gospel Reading: Mark 16:15-20
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen.