Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 11-03-02, Memorial St. Francis Xavier

Reading I
Is 11:1-10

On that day,
A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A Spirit of counsel and of strength,
a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land's afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra's den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder's lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.

On that day,
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
The Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17

R (see 7) Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
He shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
R Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.

Gospel
Lk 10:21-24

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
"I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him."

Turning to the disciples in private he said,
"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

The Word Among Us

Tuesday, December 03, 2002

Meditation
Isaiah 11:1-10

When was the last time you judged a person by his or her appearance? Surely, we have all done it at one time or another. Yet Isaiah prophesied that someone would come who would always evaluate people according to what is just, never according to mere appearances. Psalm 72 speaks about this same person: He would pursue justice. In his day, righteousness would flourish. He would have equal concern for the poor and the rich.

Only one person in all history has perfectly fulfilled this description: Jesus Christ. He loved everyone for who they were, not for what they appeared to be. He looked into their hearts, rather than at their clothing, and related to them on the basis of God’s love. We need to do the same.

How can we avoid misguided judgments or favoritism? How can we appreciate each person as God does and minister God’s love to all? True, we must seek God through prayer so that he will reveal his mind to us. But we must also act on what we already know to be true. It’s only as we take action that our hearts can be transformed.

The process of change may be difficult. Yet if we focus our attention on the immense love that God has shown us, we will be better equipped to open our hearts to other people. Although our minds may quickly revert to judging people by their income or level of education or ethnic group, the Holy Spirit will help us gradually overcome our narrowness and teach us to deal fairly with other people.

Perhaps where you work, one person is a janitor while another is a highly paid executive. It would be easy to ignore the janitor and defer to the executive. Jesus, however, wants us to treat everyone with respect and consideration. Perhaps your children argue with each other, and it’s easy to assume that one child is always responsible for the problem. But Jesus would want you to listen carefully to each, rather than jumping to conclusions about their misbehavior.

No matter what the situation, Jesus invites us to become like him, guided by God’s justice and mercy and respect for every human person.

“Lord Jesus, help me to be like you, not evaluating anyone out of prejudice but demonstrating God’s love and mercy to all.”

From: Luke 10:21-24

Jesus Gives Thanks

[21] In that same hour He (Jesus) rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and
said, "I thank Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that thou hast
hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them
to babes; yea, Father, for such was Thy gracious will. [22] All
things have been delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows who
the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and
any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."

[23] Then turning to the disciples He said privately, "Blessed are the
eyes which see what you see! [24] For I tell you that many prophets
and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear
what you hear, and did not hear it."

Commentary:

21. This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord's "hymn of
joy" and is also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those
moments when Jesus rejoices to see humble people understanding and
accepting the word of God.

Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility--spiritual
childhood. For example, in another passage He says: "Truly, I say to
you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the
Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3). But spiritual childhood does not
involve weakness, softness or ignorance: "I have often meditated on
this life of spiritual childhood, which is not incompatible with
fortitude, because it demands a strong will, proven maturity, an open
and firm character [...]. To become children we must renounce our
pride and self-sufficiency, recognizing that we can do nothing by
ourselves. We must realize that we need grace, and the help of God our
Father to find our way and keep it. To be little, you have to abandon
yourself as children do, believe as children, beg as children beg"
(J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 10 and 143).

22. "This statement is a wonderful help to our faith," St. Ambrose
comments, "because when you read 'all' you realize that Christ is
all-powerful, that He is not inferior to the Father, or less perfect
than He; when you read 'have been delivered to me', you confess that
Christ is the Son, to whom everything belongs by right of being one in
substance [with the Father] and not by grace of gift" ("Expositio
Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

Here we see Christ as almighty Lord and God, consubstantial with the
Father, and the only one capable of revealing who the Father is. At
the same time, we can recognize the divine nature of Jesus only if the
Father gives us the grace of faith--as He did to St. Peter (cf. Matthew
16:17).

23-24. Obviously, seeing Jesus with one's own eyes was a wonderful
thing for people who believed in him. However, our Lord will say to
Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John
20:29). St. Peter, for his part, tells us: "Without having seen Him
you love Him; though you do not see Him you believe in Him and rejoice
with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you
obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Catholic Online Saints

St. Francis Xavier

FRANCIS XAVIER, ST. (1506-1552). Born in the family castle of Xavier, near Pamplona in the Basque area of Spanish Navarre on Apr. 7, he was sent to the University of Paris 1552, secured his licentiate in 1528, met Ignatius Loyola and became one of the seven who in 1534, at Montmartre founded the Society of Jesus. In 1536 he left Paris to join Ignatius in Venice, from whence they all in tended to go as missionaries to Palestine (a trip which never materialized), was ordained there in 1537, went to Rome in 1538, and in 1540, when the pope formally recognized the Society, was ordered, with Fr. Simon Rodriguez, to the Far East as the first Jesuit missionaries.

King John III kept Fr. Simon in Lisbon, but Francis, after a year's voyage, six months of which were spent at Mozambique where he preached and gave aid to the sick eventually arrived in Goa, India in 1542 with Fr. Paul of Camerino an Italian, and Francis Mansihas, a Portuguese. There he began preaching to the natives and attempted to reform his fellow Europeans, living among the natives and adopting their customs on his travels.

During the next decade he converted tens of thousands to Christianity. He visited the Paravas at the tip of India. near Cape Comorin, Tuticorin (1542), Malacca (1545), the Moluccas near New Guinea and Morotai near the Philippines (1546-47), and Japan (1549- 51). In 1551, India and the East were set up as a separate province and Ignatius made Francis its first provincial.

In 1552 he set out for China, landed on the island of Sancian within sight of his goal, but died before he reached the mainland. Working against great difficulties, language problems ( contrary to legend, he had no proficiency in foreign tongues ), inadequate funds, and lack of cooperation, often actual resistance, from European officials, he left the mark of his missionary zeal and energy on areas which clung to Christianity for centuries. He was canonized in 1622 and proclaimed patron of all foreign missions by Pope Pius X. F. D. Dec. 3.

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