Saint Francis Xavier, Priest (Memorial)
All nations shall stream toward it. (Isaiah 2:2)
Nearly eight hundred years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah promised that whole nations would come to Israel to learn about the Lord. “From Zion,” he promised, “shall go forth instruction,” and that instruction would draw people back to God (Isaiah 2:3). Now here we are, two-and-a-half millennia later, and Isaiah’s prophecy continues to come true, but in a new way—one that shows how the Old Testament is fulfilled in Jesus. It’s his good news that now “goes forth” and draws people from every background into his presence.
The gospel goes out, and the people stream in. It’s a theme that runs throughout Scripture. In Genesis, we hear God telling Abraham that the nations would “find blessing” in him (18:18). Then, in Exodus, we see foreigners following the Israelites out of Egypt to worship God (12:38). Later Ruth—a woman from Moab—leaves her homeland and her gods behind to follow Naomi into Israel (Ruth 1:16). And the stories go on and on.
Then, in today’s Gospel, we see Jesus healing the servant of a Roman centurion—a pagan with no direct ties to the covenant with Moses. But Jesus declares that “many will come from the east and the west” to dine in God’s kingdom (Matthew 8:11). Finally, we look on as people “from every nation, race, people, and tongue” gather around the throne of God in the glory of heaven (Revelation 7:9).
Today, the gospel goes out through missionaries laboring in foreign lands or sharing the love of Christ in homeless shelters just down the road from us. And people are streaming in as a result.
You have a part to play as well. You don’t have to be a prophet like Isaiah or a missionary for the good news of Christ to ring out from your life. You can offer everyday acts of love and kindness to the people around you. You can visit a neighbor who is sick and offer to pray for them—or even with them! You can include that lonely coworker in your plans for the holidays. You can help teach a catechism class or set up at your parish’s “Welcome Sunday” social.
In all these ways, the gospel can “go forth” from you, and people will come closer to God (Isaiah 2:3).
“Lord, make me a witness to your love.”
Psalm 122:1-9
Matthew 8:5-11
Vatican Council II
Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the modern world "Gaudium et Spes" §22 - Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
"Many will come from the east and the west, and will recline… at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven"
He Who is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), is Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. Since human nature as He assumed it was not annulled, by that very fact it has been raised up to a divine dignity in our respect too. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin (Heb 4:15)
The Christian man, conformed to the likeness of that Son Who is the firstborn of many brothers (Rom 8:29), received "the first-fruits of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:23) by which he becomes capable of discharging the new law of love. Through this Spirit, who is "the pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:14), the whole man is renewed from within, even to the achievement of "the redemption of the body" (Rom. 8:23)… Pressing upon the Christian to be sure, are the need and the duty to battle against evil through manifold tribulations and even to suffer death. But, linked with the paschal mystery and patterned on the dying Christ, he will hasten forward to resurrection in the strength which comes from hope.
All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men,(Rom 8:32) and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.