by Rino Benzoni, s.x.
Superior General of the Xaverians

 

Fr. Rino Benzoni is Superior General of the Xaverian Missionaries.  We thank him for this reflection on the 500 year anniversary of St. Francis Xavier's birth.

e celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier on April 7 2006. For this reason, the Xaverian Missionaries have decided to dedicate a special year to their Patron, entitled “the Xaverian Year.” It goes from Dec. 3 2005 to Dec. 3 2006, which is the liturgical feast of St. Francis Xavier.

We ask: what meaning does this celebration have for us Xaverians, who carry his name? What does it mean for our friends?

It’s an opportune Occasion

We know the importance of a name: it could just be a simple way to call one thing or one person. At the end, it’s indifferent if one thing is called that or any other name. As long as we agree! Yet, the name can also define the identity of a person, different from another, unique, which cannot be repeated. And according to the Latin phrase “nomen est homen,” the name is the person.
Two possible attitudes of the Xaverians and their friends derive from this, the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of St. Francis Xavier, patron of the missions and of our congregation. It could be a simple recurrence, a normal event. As a matter of fact, what will be different in 2006 from the other years?
Or it could be an opportune occasion for us to know better the great person who has marked the history of mission, of the church and of society, not only at his time, but for centuries after. It could be a good occasion for us to question ourselves and the mission which we are called to, and was given to us.

St. Francis Xavier, missionary model

Certainly, times have changed radically. Some of the reasons which drove St. Francis Xavier to the East, and some of his ways of doing mission cannot be suggested for today’s world. What, instead, has not changed, is the need of humanity to come to know the true God, revealed to us through Jesus. The willingness to welcome God the Father through the proclamation of missionaries has not changed.
And the main tool for this proclamation has not changed, either, which is the witness through our lives more than our words. In fact, the encounter with Jesus profoundly changes the life of those who announce him, filling it with meaning. Saint Francis Xavier, too, went through this experience of conversion.

His great missionary zeal

We cannot forget all that the Xavier “did and suffered for the spread of the Reign of God.” We could synthesize this with a word we don’t use often, which is the main characteristic of St. Francis Xavier: his great missionary zeal. Even today, we are impressed by his untiring activity, the many countries he visited in his 11 years of mission work, with the means of transportation of that time, amidst many dangers; and how he founded so many flourishing Christian communities which lasted the passing of time.
He wrote: “During the storm, I asked our Lord God that if I were freed from it, I would be ready to face even stronger storms, for his major glory.” And beside this hard work and dangers, he faced the disappointments, the ill manners, and the sticks between the wheels of the same Christians – the Portuguese merchants and conquerors – because of their bad lifestyles. “If we cannot move ahead – he wrote – it is because of them!”

He was not an adventurer

St. Francis Xavier was not an adventurer. He did not seek riches or life success. What pushed him forward was not the tourist attraction or the simple wish to come to know new peoples and cultures. He wrote: “To live on earth without having a taste of God is a continual death, not living.” What sustained him was the love of God, experienced and nurtured.
An eyewitness wrote of St. Francis Xavier: “During the day, he belonged entirely to people. Yet, at night, he fully belonged to God.” Once again, the foundational rule of the Christian life becomes clear even in the missionary: we cannot totally love people, especially the poor, if this love is not sustained and nurtured by the love of God.

It occurs to me that I should travel round the Universities of Europe … and to shout like a madman wherever I go, in order to rouse the consciences of those who have neither intelligence nor charity”
(letter to his companions in Rome, 15 January 1544)

It was indeed great the good influence of St. Francis Xavier on the countries he visited and worked. Through the centuries, his example attracted many peoples to imitate him, dedicating all their lives for the preaching of the Gospel among the peoples. His missionary activity became important not only for the church, but also in society.

Francis Xavier and Conforti

We Xaverians, now, ask ourelves: “Why did Bishop Conforti gave us this name, and not another one? Why not be called ‘Confortians’ as many other religious orders and missionaries did, so that he may be remembered? Instead, he called us “Society of St. Francis Xavier,” and then “Xaverian Missionaries.”
At the beginning of the 1931 Constitutions, on the same years of his death, Conforti writes: “The society of St. Francis Xavier for the Foreign Missions… takes its name and inspiration from the glorious apostle of the Indies” (Const. 1931, 1-2). According to the style of writing of that time these are few words. Yet, for us Xaverians, they are important words. In another passage of the 1931 Constitutions, he invites his missionary “to have a special devotion for Saint Francis Xavier and the Apostles, who worked and suffered much for the spreading of the Reign of God; may you consider them as great models to imitate, and powerful intercessors from God.” Therefore, inspiration and model.

The true missionary is the Saint

With this in mind, we can understand why our Founder, Bishop Conforti, gave us the name of this holy missionary, the Xavier. He wished to tell us that in order to be entirely dedicated to mission we need to be entirely of God. And this is the teaching of Pope John Paul II in the encyclical Redemptoris Mission (#90): “The true missionary is the Saint.”
For this reason, too, Blessed Conforti wanted his missionaries to be “consecrated” in religious life. Mission is beyond human strengths, and is the work of God. To be “consecrated” means to place ourselves totally at the will of God, so that God works through us.

Xaverian Greetings

Dear Xaverians and friends, which is the best greetings for this 2006, with this “Xaverian Year?” I will do it through the same words of St. Francis Xavier, at the end of some of his letters: “May the Lord our God, help us to grasp his holy will, and give us the necessary strength and grace to accomplish it in charity during this life.” (Letter to his Companions in Rome, Jan. 27 1545). 

Have a great 2006, with the Xavier and the Xaverian Missionaries!

Fr. Rino Benzoni, s.x.