Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-03-16, M, St. Francis Xavier, Priest

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 12-03-16 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:  And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.  Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.  Behold the handmaid of the Lord: Be it done unto me according to Thy word.  Hail Mary . . .  And the Word was made Flesh: And dwelt among us.  Hail Mary . . .  Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  Let us pray:  Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.  "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28)   "Blessed are you among women,  and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Lk 1:42).

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Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 9
35.	And Jesus went about all the cities, and towns, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease, and every infirmity.	Et circuibat Jesus omnes civitates, et castella, docens in synagogis eorum, et prædicans Evangelium regni, et curans omnem languorem, et omnem infirmitatem.	και περιηγεν ο ιησους τας πολεις πασας και τας κωμας διδασκων εν ταις συναγωγαις αυτων και κηρυσσων το ευαγγελιον της βασιλειας και θεραπευων πασαν νοσον και πασαν μαλακιαν εν τω λαω
36.	And seeing the multitudes, he had compassion on them: because they were distressed, and lying like sheep that have no shepherd.	Videns autem turbas, misertus est eis : quia erant vexati, et jacentes sicut oves non habentes pastorem.	ιδων δε τους οχλους εσπλαγχνισθη περι αυτων οτι ησαν εσκυλμενοι και ερριμμενοι ωσει προβατα μη εχοντα ποιμενα
37.	Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few.	Tunc dicit discipulis suis : Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci.	τοτε λεγει τοις μαθηταις αυτου ο μεν θερισμος πολυς οι δε εργαται ολιγοι
38.	Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest.	Rogate ergo Dominum messis, ut mittat operarios in messem suam.	δεηθητε ουν του κυριου του θερισμου οπως εκβαλη εργατας εις τον θερισμον αυτου
	Matthew 10
1.	AND having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities.	Et convocatis duodecim discipulis suis, dedit illis potestatem spirituum immundorum, ut ejicerent eos, et curarent omnem languorem, et omnem infirmitatem.	και προσκαλεσαμενος τους δωδεκα μαθητας αυτου εδωκεν αυτοις εξουσιαν πνευματων ακαθαρτων ωστε εκβαλλειν αυτα και θεραπευειν πασαν νοσον και πασαν μαλακιαν
[...]
5.	These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not.	Hos duodecim misit Jesus, præcipiens eis, dicens : In viam gentium ne abieritis, et in civitates Samaritanorum ne intraveritis :	τουτους τους δωδεκα απεστειλεν ο ιησους παραγγειλας αυτοις λεγων εις οδον εθνων μη απελθητε και εις πολιν σαμαρειτων μη εισελθητε
6.	But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.	sed potius ite ad oves quæ perierunt domus Israël.	πορευεσθε δε μαλλον προς τα προβατα τα απολωλοτα οικου ισραηλ
7.	And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand.	Euntes autem prædicate, dicentes : Quia appropinquavit regnum cælorum.	πορευομενοι δε κηρυσσετε λεγοντες οτι ηγγικεν η βασιλεια των ουρανων
8.	Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.	Infirmos curate, mortuos suscitate, leprosos mundate, dæmones ejicite : gratis accepistis, gratis date.	ασθενουντας θεραπευετε λεπρους καθαριζετε δαιμονια εκβαλλετε δωρεαν ελαβετε δωρεαν δοτε

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35. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages , teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

RABAN; Figuratively; as in the two blind men were denoted both nations, Jews and Gentiles, so in the man dumb and afflicted with die demon is denoted the whole human race.

HILARY; Or; by the dumb and deaf; and demoniac, is signified the Gentile world, needing health in every part; for sunk in evil of every kind, they are afflicted with disease of every part of the body.

REMIG; For the Gentiles were dumb; not being able to open their month in the confession of the true faith, and the praises of the Creator, or because in paying worship to dumb idols they were made like them. They were afflicted with a demon, because by dying in unbelief they were made subject to the power of the Devil.

HILARY; But by the knowledge of God the frenzy of superstition being chased away, the sight, the hearing and the word of salvation is brought in to them.

JEROME; As the blind receive light, so the tongue of the dumb is loosed, that he may confess Him whom before he denied. The wonder of the multitude is the confession of the nations. The scoff of the Pharisees is the unbelief of the Jews, which is to this day.

HILARY; The wonder of the multitude is followed up by the confession, It was never so seen in Israel; because he, for whom there was no help under the Law, is saved by the power of the Word.

REMIG; They who brought the dumb to be healed by the Lord, signify the Apostles and preachers, who brought the Gentile people to be saved before the face of divine mercy.

AUG; This account of the two blind men and the dumb demon is read in Matthew only. The two blind men of whom the others speak are not the same as these, though something similar was done with them. So that even if Matthew had not also recorded their cure, we might have seen that this present narrative was of a different transaction. And this we ought diligently to remember, that many actions of our Lord are very much like one another, but are proved not to be the same action, by being born related at different times by the same Evangelist. So that when we find cases in which one is recorded by one Evangelist, and another by another, and some difference which we cannot reconcile between their accounts, we should suppose that they are like, but not the same, events.

36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
37. Then he said to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;
38. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

CHRYS; The Lord would refute by actions the charge of the Pharisees, who said, He casts out demons by the prince of demons; for a demon having suffered rebuke, does not return good but evil to those who have not shown him honor. But the Lord on the other hand, when He has suffered blasphemy and contumely, not only does not punish, but does not utter a hard speech, yea he shows kindness to them that did it, as it here follows, And Jesus went about all their to towns and villages. Herein He teaches us not to return accusations to them that accuse us but kindness. for he that ceases to do good because of accusation, shows that his good has been done because of men. But if for God's sake you do good to your fellow-servants, you will not cease from doing good whatever they do , that your reward may be greater.

JEROME; Observe how equally in villages, cities, and towns, that is to great as well as small, He preaches the Gospel, not respecting the might of the noble, but the salvation of those that believe. It follows, Teaching in their synagogues; this was His meat, going about to do the will of His Father, and saving by His teaching such as yet believed not.

GLOSS; He taught in their synagogues the Gospel of the Kingdom, as it follows, Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom.

REMIG; Understand, 'of God;' for though temporal blessings are also proclaimed, yet they are not called The Gospel. Hence the Law was not called a Gospel, because to such as kept. it, it held out not heavenly, but earthly, goods.

JEROME; He first preached and taught, an d then proceeded to heal sicknesses, that the works might convince those who would not believe the words. Hence it follows, Healing every sickness and every disease, for to him alone nothing is impossible.

GLOSS; By disease we may understand complaints of long standing, by sickness any lesser infirmity.

REMIG. It. should be known that those whom He healed Outwardly in their bodies, He also healed inwardly in their souls. Others cannot do this of their own power, but can by God's grace.

CHRYS; Nor does Christ's goodness rest here, but He manifests His care for them, opening the bowels of His mercy towards them; whence it follows, And seeing the multitudes, He had compassion upon them.

REMIG; Herein Christ shows in Himself the disposition of the good shepherd and not that of the hireling. Why He pitied them is added, Because they were troubled, and sick as sheep that have no shepherd - troubled either by demons, or by diverse sicknesses and infirmities.

GLOSS; Or, troubled by demons, and sick, that is, benumbed and unable to rise; and though they had shepherds, yet they were as though they had them not.

CHRYS; This is an accusation against the rulers of the Jews, that being shepherds they appeared like wolves; not only not improving the multitude, but hindering their progress. For When the multitude marveled and said, It was never so seen in Israel, these opposed themselves , saying, He casts out demons by the prince of the demons.

REMIG; But when the Son of God ,looked down from heaven upon the earth, to hear the groans of the captives, straight a great harvest began to ripen; for the multitude of the human race would never have come near to the faith, had not the Author of human salvation looked down from heaven; and it follows, Then said he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is great, butt the laborers are few.

GLOSS; The harvest are those men who can he reaped by the preachers, and separated from the number of the damned, as grain is beaten out from the chaff that it may be laid up in granaries.

JEROME; The great harvest denotes the multitude of the people; the few laborers, the want of instructors.

REMIG; For the number of the Apostles was small in comparison of so great. crops to be reaped. The Lord exhorts His preachers, that. is, the Apostles and their followers, that they should daily desire an increase of their number; Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.

CHRYS; He privately insinuates Himself to he the Lord; for it is He Himself who is Lord of the harvest. For if He sent the Apostles to reap what they had not sown, it is manifest that He sent them not to reap the things of others, but what He had sown by the Prophets. But since the twelve Apostles are the laborers, lie said, Pray the Lord of' the harvest, that he would send laborers into his harvest; and notwithstanding lie added none to their number, but rather He multiplied those twelve many times, not by increasing their numbers, but by giving them more abundant grace.

REMIG; Or, He then increased their number when He chose the seventy and two, and then when many preachers were made what time the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers.

CHRYS; He shows us that it is a great gift that one should have the power of rightly preaching, in that He tells them that they ought to pray for it. Also we are here reminded of the words of John concerning the threshing-floor, amid the fan, the chaff, and the wheat.

HILARY; Figuratively; when salvation was given to the Gentiles, then all cities and towns were enlightened by the power and entrance of Christ, and escaped every other sickness and infirmity. The Lord pities the people troubled with the violence of the unclean Spirit., and sick under the burden of the Law, and having no shepherd at hand to bestow on them the guardianship of the Holy Spirit. But of that gift there was a most abundant fruit., whose plenty far exceeded the multitude of those that drank thereof; how many ever take of it, yet an inexhaustible supply remains; and because it is profitable that there should be many to minister it, He bids us ask the Lord of the harvest, that God would provide a supply of reapers for the ministration of that gift of the Holy Spirit which was made ready; for by prayer this gift is poured out upon us from God.

1. And when he had called to him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

GLOSS; From the healing of Peter's wife's mother to this place there has been a continued succession of miracles; and they were done before the Sermon upon the Mount, as we know for certain from Matthew's call, which is placed among them; for he was one of the twelve chosen to the Apostleship upon the mount. He here returns to the order of events, taking it up again at the healing of the centurion's Servant; saying, And calling to him his twelve disciples.

REMIG; The Evangelist had related above that the Lord exhorted His disciples to pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His vineyard; and He now seems to be fulfilling what He had exhorted them to. For the number twelve is a perfect number, being made up of the number six, which has perfection because it is formed of its own parts, one, two, three, multiplied into one another; and the number six when doubled amounts to twelve.

GLOSS; And this doubling seems to have some reference to the two precepts of charity, or to the two Testaments.

BEDE; For the number twelve , which is made up of thrice into four, denotes that through the four quarters of the world they were to preach the faith of the Holy Trinity.

RABAN; This number is typified by many things in the Old Testament; by the twelve sons of Jacob, by the twelve princes of the children of Israel, by the twelve running springs in Helim, by the twelve stones in Aaron's breastplate, by the twelve loaves of the show-bread, by the twelve spies sent by Moses, by the twelve stones of which the altar was made, by the twelve ,stones taken out of Jordan, by the twelve oxen which bare the brazen sea. Also in the New Testament, by the twelve stars in the bride's crown, by the twelve foundations of to Jerusalem which John saw, and her twelve gates.

CHRYS; He makes them confident not only by calling their ministry a sending forth to the harvest, but by giving then' strength cure for the ministry; whence it follows, He gave them power over all unclean spirits to cast fluent out, and to heal every sickness and every disease.

REMIG; Wherein is openly showed that the multitude were troubled not with one single kind of affliction, but with many, and this was His pity for the multitude, to give His disciples power to heal and cleanse them.

JEROME; A kind and merciful Lord and Master does not envy His servants and disciples a share in His powers. As Himself had cured every sickness and disease, He imparted the same power to His Apostles. But there is a wide difference between having and imparting, between giving and receiving. Whatever He does He does with the power of a master, whatever they do it is with confession of their own weakness, as they speak, In the name of Jesus rise and walk. A catalogue of the names of the Apostles is given, that all false Apostles might be excluded. The names of the twelve Apostles are these; First, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. To arrange then in order according to their merit is His alone who searches the secrets of all hearts. But Simon is placed first, having the surname of Peter given to distinguish him from the other Simon surnamed Chananeus, from the village of Chana in Galilee where the Lord turned the water into wine.

5. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter not:
6. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
7. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give.

GLOSS; Because the manifestation of the Spirit, as the Apostle speaks, is given for the profit of the Church, after bestowing His power on the Apostles, He sends them that they may exercise this power for the good of others; These twelve Jesus sent forth.

CHRYS; Observe the propriety of the time in which they are sent. After they had seen the dead raised, the sea rebuked, and other like wonders, and had had both in word and deed sufficient proof of His excellent power, then He sends them.

GLOSS; When He sends them, He teaches them whither they should go, what they shout and preach, and what they should do. And first, whither they should go; Giving them commandment, and saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

JEROME; This passage does not contradict the command which He gave afterwards, Go and teach all nations; for this was before His resurrection , that was after. And it was necessary the coming of Christ to be preached to the Jews first, that they might not have any just plea, or say that they were rejected of the Lord, who sent the Apostles to the Gentiles and Samaritans.

CHRYS; Also they were sent to the Jews first, in order that being trained in Judea, as in a palaestra, they might enter on the arena of the world to contend; thus He taught them like weak nestlings to fly.

GREG; Or He would be first preached to Judea and afterwards to the Gentiles, in order that the preaching of the Redeemer should seem to seek out foreign lands only because it had been rejected in His own. There were also at that time some among the Jews who should be called, and among the Gentiles some who were not to be called, as being unworthy of being renewed to life, and yet not deserving of the aggravated punishment which would ensue upon their rejection of the Apostles' preaching.

HILARY; The promulgation of the Law deserved also the first preaching of the Gospel; and Israel was to have less excuse for its crime, as it had experienced more care in being warned.

CHRYS; Also that they should not suppose that they were hated of Christ because they bad reviled Him, and branded Him as demoniac, lie sought first their cure, and withholding His disciples from all other nations, lie sent this people physicians and teachers; and not only forbid them to preach to any others before the Jews, but would not. that they should so much as approach the way that led to the Gentiles; Go not into the way of the Gentiles. And because the Samaritans, though more readily disposed to be converted to the faith, were yet at. enmity with the Jews, He would not suffer the Samaritans to be preached to before the Jews.

GLOSS; The Samaritans were Gentiles who had been settled in the hand of Israel by the king of Assyria after the captivity which he made. They had been driven by many terrors to turn to Judaism, and had received circumcision and the five books of Moses, but renouncing every thing else; hence there was no communication between the Jews and the Samaritans.

CHRYS; From these then He diverts his disciples, and sends them to the children of Israel, whom he calls perishing sheep, not straying; in every way contriving an apology for them, and drawing them to Himself.

HILARY; Though they are here called sheep, yet, they raged against Christ with the tongues of wolves and vipers.

JEROME; Figuratively herein we who bear the name of Christ are commanded not to walk in the way of the Gentiles, or the error of the heretics, but as we are separate in religion, we be also separate in our life.

GLOSS; Having told them to whom they should go, He now introduces what they should preach; Go and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

RABAN; The kingdom of heaven is here said to draw nigh by the faith in the unseen Creator which is bestowed upon us, not by any movement of the visible elements. The saints are rightly denoted by the heavens, because they contain God by faith, and love Him with affection.

CHRYS; Behold the greatness of their ministry, behold the dignity of the Apostles. They are not to preach of any thing that can be an object of sense, as Moses and the Prophets did; but things new and unhooked for; those preached earthly goods, but these the kingdom of heaven and all the goods that are there.

GREG; Miracles also were granted to the that the power they should show might be a pledge of the truth of their words, and they who preached new things should also do new things; wherefore it follows, Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.

JEROME; Lest peasants untaught and illiterate, without the graces of speech, should obtain credit with none when they announced the kingdom of Heaven, He gives them power to do the things above mentioned, that the greatness of the miracles might approve the greatness of their promises.

HILARY; The exercise of the Lord's power is wholly entrusted to the Apostles, that they who were formed in the image of Adam, and the likeness of God, should now obtain the perfect image of Christ; and whatever evil Satan had introduced into the body of Adam, this they should now repair by Communion with the Lord's power.

GREG; These signs were necessary in the beginning of the Church; the faith of the believers must he fed with miracles, that it might grow.

CHRYS; But afterwards they ceased when a reverence for the faith was universally established. Or, if they were continued at all, they were few and seldom; for it is usual with God to do such things when evil is increased, then He shows forth His power.

GREG; The Holy Church daily does spiritually, what it then did materially by the Apostles; yea, things far greater, inasmuch as she raises and cures souls and not bodies.

REMIG; The sick are the slothful who have not strength to live well; the lepers are the unclean in sin and animal delights; the demoniacs are they that are given up under the power of the Devil.

JEROME; And because spiritual gifts are more lightly esteemed when money is made the means of obtaining them, He adds a condemnation of avarice; Freely you have received, freely give; I your Master and Lord have imparted these to you without price, do you therefore give them to others in like manner, that the free grace of the Gospel be not corrupted.

GLOSS; This He says, that Judas who had the bag might not use the above power for getting money; a plain condemnation of time abomination of the simoniacal heresy.

GREG; For He knew before that there would be some that would turn the gift of the Spirit which they had received into merchandise, and pervert the power of miracles into an instrument of their covetousness.

CHRYS; Observe how He is as careful that they should be upright in moral virtue, as that they should have the miraculous powers, showing that miracles without these are nothing, Freely you have received, seems a check upon their pride; freely give, a command to keep themselves pure from filthy lucre. Or, that what they should do might not be thought to be their own benevolence, He says, Freely you have received; as much as to say; you bestow nothing of your own on those you relieve; for you have not received these things for money, nor for wages of labor; as you have received them, so give to others; for indeed it is not possible to receive a price equal to their value.

Catena Aurea Matthew 9
Catena Aurea Matthew 10

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Christ the Seeker of the Lost Sheep

Unknown Artist
2000s. Butyrki Prison Chapel (Moscow, Russia)

[cloudmountain]

This is a MOST beautiful and comforting Gospel of St. Matthew.

[Salvation]

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

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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

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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

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Collect:
O God, who through the preaching of Saint Francis Xavier
won many peoples to yourself,
grant that the hearts of the faithful
may burn with the same zeal for the faith
and that Holy Church may everywhere rejoice
in an abundance of offspring.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of 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.

[Salvation]

St Francis Xavier, A Fiery Apostle [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
Goa celebrates 500th birth anniversary of Saint Francis Xavier
More than 350 Catholics from Pakistan to India to venerate Saint Francis Xavier
St. Francis Xavier Against Archbishop Fitzgerald
St. Francis Xavier
Saint Francis Xavier - "Apostle Of The East"

[Salvation]

Information: St. Francis Xavier

Feast Day: December 3

Born: April 7, 1506, Javier, Navarre

Died: December 3, 1552, China

Canonized: March 12, 1622 by Gregory XV

Patron of: African missions; Apostleship of Prayer; Australia; Bombay, India; China; East Indies; Fathers of the Precious Blood; foreign missions; Goa India; India; Tokyo, Japan; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; navigators; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith

[Salvation]

Holy Spirit Interactive Kids: A Saint a Day

St. Francis Xavier

Feast Day: December 03
Born:1506 :: Died:1552

St. Francis Xavier was born at Xavier Castle in Spain in 1506. He went to the University of Paris when he was eighteen, where he studied and taught Philosophy. Here he met St. Ignatius Loyola, who was about to start the Society of Jesus.

St. Ignatius tried to get Francis to join him and at first the happy-go-lucky young man just laughed. St. Ignatius repeated to him the words of Jesus in the Gospel: "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" At last, Francis saw clearly that he could use his talents to bring people to God and agreed to join the Jesuits.

When Francis was thirty-four, St. Ignatius sent him as a missionary to the East Indies. The king of Portugal wanted to give him presents to take along and a servant.

Francis refused his kind offer and explained: "The best way to acquire true dignity is to wash one's own clothes and boil one's own pot."

During his travels as a missionary in Goa, India, Japan and other lands of the east, St. Francis made thousands of converts. In fact, he baptized so many people that he became too weak to raise his arms.

Francis' love for Jesus was so strong that he could not rest at the thought of so many people who had never heard the Gospel. He found that there were so many villages where there were Christians but no priest to say Mass or teach them their prayers and the Commandments of God's Law.

When he landed at Goa in India, he would go down the streets ringing a little bell and inviting the children to hear the word of God. Then he would take them to a nearby Church and teach them Catechism and prayers. He made little lay apostles of them and invited them to spread the faith they had learned.

There was nothing St. Francis wouldn't do to help people. Once he faced a fierce band of raiders, alone, with no weapon but his crucifix. They backed up and did not attack his Christian tribes. The saint also brought many bad-living Christians to repentance. His only "tools" were his gentle, polite ways and his prayers.

During his painful journeys and hard work, the saint was full of a special joy that came from God. St. Francis longed to get into China, into which no foreigner was permitted.

At last, the arrangements were made, but he fell ill. He died almost alone in 1552 on an island off the Chinese coast when he was just forty-six-years-old. Today his body is preserved in a church in Goa.

[Salvation]

CATHOLIC ALMANAC

Saturday, December 3

Liturgical Color: White

Today is the Memorial of St.
Francis Xavier, priest. St. Francis
was a co-founder of the Jesuit order.
He spread the Gospel in many
countries including Japan, India and
Malaysia. He died in 1552, while
planning a trip to China.

[Salvation]

Advent: December 3rd

Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, priest

MASS READINGS

December 03, 2016 (Readings on USCCB website)

COLLECT PRAYER

O God, who through the preaching of Saint Francis Xavier won many peoples to yourself, grant that the hearts of the faithful may burn with the same zeal for the faith and that Holy Church may everywhere rejoice in an abundance of offspring. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Recipes (4)

• Confessors’ Light Chocolate Cake
• Nameday Chocolate Ice Cream
• Ship Cake
• Xaver Suppe

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Activities (3)

• Celebrating for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier
• Nameday Ideas for the Feast of St. Frances Xavier
• St. Francis Xavier: Letter on the Missions, to St. Ignatius de Loyola, 1549

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Prayers (8)

• Advent Wreath Prayers I
• Advent Wreath Prayers II
• Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Advent (2nd Plan)
• Litany of St. Francis Xavier
• Christmas Anticipation Prayer
• Book of Blessings: Blessing Before and After Meals: Advent (1st Plan)
• Novena to the Immaculate Conception
• Novena to St. Francis Xavier - The Novena of Grace

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Library (1)

• Arrival of Relic of St. Francis Xavier | Cardinal George Pell

Old Calendar: St. Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was born in the castle of Xavier in Navarre, Spain. In 1525 he went to Paris where he met St. Ignatius Loyola and with whom he received Holy Orders in Venice in 1537. In 1540 he was sent to evangelize India. He labored in western India, the island of Ceylon, Malacca, Molucca Islands, island of Mindanao (Philippines), and Japan. In 1552 he started on a voyage to China but died on Sancian Island.

Jesse Tree ~ Jacob

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St. Francis Xavier
This saint, one of the Church's most illustrious missionaries, came from a noble Basque family in Spain. He studied at the University of Paris, where he taught philosophy after obtaining his degree of master of arts. Here he met Ignatius of Loyola and was enrolled as one of the first seven Jesuits. They decided to go to the Holy Land, but the war between the Turks and Venice prevented this, so for a time Francis labored at Padua, Bologna, and Rome.

In 1540 Ignatius chose him as the first missionary to the Portuguese East Indies. Francis sailed from Lisbon armed with four papal briefs making him nuncio with full powers and recommending him to the Eastern princes. He landed at Goa in India and began a vast apostolate lasting over ten years. Here he instructed the adults, gathered the children by ringing a bell in the streets, catechized them, and also visited the hospitals and prisons. He then turned to the native Indians, teaching the simple folk by versifying Catholic doctrine and fitting the verses to popular tunes. He then went on to Cape Comorin and began the conversion of the Paravas, some days baptizing so many that at night he could not raise his arm from fatigue. Then to Travencore where he founded forty-five churches in various villages. Then to Malacca in Malaya, and for eighteen months from island to island, preaching, instructing, baptizing.

On his return to Goa he heard of the vast harvest of souls awaiting the laborers in Japan and he set out for this field with several companions, arriving at Kagoshima in 1549. He set himself to learn the language and started to preach and teach with such success that twelve years later his converts were found still retaining their first fervor. In 1551 he returned to Malacca to revisit his converts in India. Now a new goal loomed up before his eyes—pagan China, but he was not to reach it.

Arriving on the island of Sancian at the mouth of the Canton river, he became ill of a fever and would have died abandoned on the burning sands of the shore if a poor man named Alvarez had not taken him to his hut. Here he lingered for two weeks, praying between spells of delirium, and finally died, his eyes fixed with great tenderness on his crucifix. He was buried in a shallow grave and his body covered with quicklime, but when exhumed three months later it was found fresh and incorrupt. It was taken to Goa where it is still enshrined. St. Francis Xavier was proclaimed patron of foreign missions and of all missionary works by Pope St. Pius X.

Excerpted from A Saint A Day by Berchmans Bittle, O.F.M.Cap

Patron: African missions; diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana; Apostleship of Prayer; Australia; black missions; Borneo; China; East Indies; foreign missions; Goa, India; diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin; India; archdiocese of Indianapolis, Indiana; Japan; diocese of Joiliet, Illinois; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; Navarre, Spain; navigators; New Zealand; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith.

Symbols: bell; crucifix; vessel; Pilgrim's staff; rosary; lily; font; ship and crucifix; globe.
Often portrayed as: young bearded Jesuit with a torch, flame, cross and lily; young bearded Jesuit in the company of Saint Ignatius Loyola; preacher carrying a flaming heart.

Things to Do:

• What does it mean to be an apostle? Consider how you might imitate St. Francis Xavier in apostolic works in your own situation. Read this letter from St. Francis to St. Ignatius to get an idea of his zeal.

• Read some more about St. Francis and ideas for Celebrating the Feast of St. Francis Xavier.

• St. Francis was sent to India and Japan. Pray for the Church in these countries, and learn more about the modern Church in India here and here, read about the history of the Church in Japan.

• Find out about and support the Holy Childhood Association (St. Francis always started with the children first).

• Teach your children to pray St. Francis' favorite prayer, "Give me souls" when they have some suffering to offer up.

• Spend some time meditating on St. Ignatius' response to St. Francis before his conversion, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?"

• Say the Litany of St. Francis Xavier.

• Make a big pot of soup for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier.

• Study some beautiful art depicting St. Francis Xavier at Olga's Gallery.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest (Memorial)

A voice shall sound in your ears: “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)

Over the past ten years, GPS, or Global Positioning System, programs and devices have become very popular. GPS works by receiving data from dozens of satellites to pinpoint your exact location. Using this information, software companies like Google and Apple have developed applications that will guide you from where you are to just about any location in the world.

Judging from today’s first reading, we might think of Jesus as our own personal GPS device. Through his Spirit, he wants to direct our steps so that we can live an upright life free from sin. Isn’t it comforting to know that we have the Lord to guide us?

But we should be careful not to reduce Jesus to a moral compass. It’s one thing to ask Jesus to direct your steps, but it’s another thing to develop a relationship with him.

Isaiah made this point when he promised that God would be “gracious” to us and that he does not want to “hide himself” from us (Isaiah 30:19, 20).

Can I really hear God speak to me in such a personal way? Yes! Here is one simple way: God speaks to us through the Scriptures. So read your Bible every day. Pray about the daily Mass readings. Even try playing “Bible Roulette” by opening your Bible randomly and reading the first verse that your eyes land on.

If something jumps out at you while you’re reading, ask how it might apply to your life—to the way you think, to the way you speak, or to the way you relate to people. When your child or spouse comes home or when a neighbor calls or when a priest gives a homily, and one of them says something that coincides with what you have read that day or the day before, consider the possibility that God is speaking to you. If you follow through and try to live out that word and if you keep doing this, you’ll find yourself feeling closer and closer to God. You’ll be developing a living, loving relationship with him.

So read the Bible every day. Let God’s still small voice lead you to love him and his people more and more each day.

“Jesus, open my ears to hear your voice.”

Psalm 147:1-6
Matthew 9:35–10:1, 5-8

[Salvation]

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for December 3, 2016:

“Children benefit from our ‘presence’ more than our ‘presents’” (Raising Kids Who Will Make a Difference). During this Advent, ponder the tone that time with your spouse, children, and extended family will take during the upcoming Christmas season.

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

December 3, 2016 – Power in Weakness

03 Dec 2016

Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, priest

Father John Doyle, LC

Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.” Then he summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe in you, the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord Jesus, I trust in your goodness and tender concern for my good and the good of every single person on this earth. Lord Jesus, I love you and wish to cooperate more fully with you. I am such a poor weak instrument, but I know that you can do anything through those who trust in you.

Petition: Help me Lord, to know the mysteries of your Sacred Heart and to respond with love.

1. The Heart of Christ: “His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus is our creator and our redeemer. He knows that what we seek is his friendship, whether we realize it or not. He knows that only he can satisfy our innermost desires. We need to be moved with compassion at the thought of Jesus’ pain, wounded by so many souls who refuse to turn to him, our only source of light, life and happiness. Do I ever consider how Jesus’ heart needs to be consoled because of the indifference and rejection of so many souls whom he loves infinitely?

2. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.” There are so many souls in need of healing and so few to help Our Lord with building his Kingdom and saving souls. “Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers to the harvest.” Christ is calling us to help him in this mission. We cannot be indifferent to the cries of our brothers and sisters who do not know the truth and who have not experienced God’s awesome love. We must be convinced that Jesus is the only answer for their yearnings. Do I pray often to the Lord of the harvest? Do I realize that I am also called to be a laborer in the Lord’s harvest?

3. Go to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel: Jesus sends us out although we feel weak and helpless. Can we “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons?” Isn’t there someone else, Lord? No. Christ calls us for the same reason he called the first apostles, namely because he chooses the weak to show that he is in charge. “Apart from the vine you can do nothing” (cf. John 15:5). But united to him, we will bear much fruit. Trust in him especially when we feel our own weakness and incapability. For, as the apostle St Paul, reminds us, “There is nothing I cannot do in him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13), and “It is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Conversation with Christ: Oh Lord Jesus, I want to respond to the longings of your heart. You have loved us to the point of dying on the cross for us, and we repay you so poorly. You deserve our grateful, loyal love, but so often we abandon you. I want to console your Sacred Heart by helping to bring many souls back into your friendship. I want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem; however, I do not feel worthy or up to the task of being your apostle. Help me to cooperate with you. Help me to soothe your longing to heal us and care for us. Here I am Lord, to do your loving will.

Resolution: I will go before the Blessed Sacrament today, intensifying my union and friendship with my Risen Lord, and ask him to send more holy, priestly vocations for his Church.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

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<< Saturday, December 3, 2016 >>

St. Francis Xavier

Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26
View Readings

Psalm 147:1-6

Matthew 9:35—10:1, 5-8
Similar Reflections

GIFT LISTS

"The gift you have received, give as a gift." —Matthew 10:8

One of the most famous (or infamous) Christmas songs is "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." Sadly, if that's all you want, that may be all you'll get. I don't know about you, but I want a lot more than some teeth:

• I want the sick cured, the dead raised, the leprous healed, and demons expelled (Mt 10:8).
• I want workers for the harvest (Mt 9:38) and the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven (Mt 6:10).
• I want a deep, totally committed relationship with Jesus, not only for me but also for every member of my family, my friends, and all of you.
• I want the baptism in the Spirit, the "streams of running water" (Is 30:25), for every believer in the world.
• I want world evangelism, repentance, conversion, sanctification, and healing.
• I want an end to war, starvation, abortion, racism, and injustice.
• I want Jesus' Second Coming, the end of the world, and "new heavens and a new earth" (Rv 21:1).
• I want to see Jesus face to face (1 Cor 13:12).

That's what I want for Christmas. And my heavenly Father says: "Is that all?"

Prayer: Father, I'm sorry for asking and expecting too little of You this Christmas. During this Advent, may I come to believe in the depth, width, breadth, and height of Your love (Eph 3:18-19).

Promise: "He will give rain for the seed that you sow in the ground, and the wheat that the soil produces will be rich and abundant." —Is 30:23

Praise: St. Francis Xavier was shot, was threatened by wild animals and suffered loneliness and isolation. Yet he persevered in his mission and brought the good news of Jesus to hundreds of thousands of people in the Far East.

[Salvation]

[Salvation]

A Christian Pilgrim

ST. FRANCIS XAVIER, JESUIT PRIEST – MEMORIA: 3 DECEMBER

03 Dec

Saint Francis was born in Spain in the year 1506. When studying at Paris he joint St. Ignatius of Loyola and was ordained priest at Rome in 1537. He spent himself in works of charity and in 1541 he went to the East where for ten years he preached the Gospel in India and Japan and brought many to the true faith. He died in the year 1552 on th Chinese island of Shangchwan.

Prayer: Lord God, You won many peoples to Yourself by preaching of Sant Francs Xavier. Give us the same zeal that he had for the faith, and let Your Church rejoice to see the virtue and the number of her children increase throughout the world. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.