A lesson from St. Francis Xavier: We can’t guide others to Christ unless we orient ourselves to him

A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, Priest

Find today’s readings here.

These are some of the last words that Jesus speaks to the disciples before the Ascension, and they are also among the words I struggle with the most.

I have many friends who are not Christian, much less Catholic. And I would feel very uncomfortable proselytizing them. I am happy to speak about my faith if they are interested, but to do as Christ commands and openly proclaim the Gospel seems like an overstep—a violation of the secular terms of friendship.

Similarly, I sometimes feel uncomfortable celebrating missionaries. Today, evangelization is associated with colonialist projects of exploitation. The old monarchies weaponized the Christian faith as a means of personal enrichment. For many, Christianity came hand in hand with foreign oppression and the loss of cultural identity. 

At the same time (I am by no means an expert or a trained historian), there seems to have been genuine and good-faith religious fervor motivating many missionary projects. All Catholics were either evangelized themselves or descended from people who were, and I certainly am happy that my ancestors converted. Reckoning with the messiness of the church’s missionary legacy means holding difficult and contradictory truths together, but where does that leave us? What should we think about the call to evangelize now?

The church has taken great care to explain and justify the centrality of evangelization. Catholics can turn to the Second Vatican Council’s decrees “Ad Gentes” and “Nostra Aetate” to better understand the role of missionary work in the church today and the relationship of the Catholic faith to other world religions. They explain that works of mercy, charity and Christian witness are crucial elements of missionary work. So is genuine interreligious dialogue that invites others to know Christ while respecting their free will and finding truth in other traditions. 

We can also turn to the lives of the saints.

Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier, one of the founding members of the Society of Jesus. Despite growing up in a noble family and having a career in academia lined up, he devoted his life to Christ and traveled as a missionary throughout Asia, working in India, Malaysia and Japan. He lived with the poor and joyfully explained Jesus’ teachings in ways that they could understand.

While much is rightfully said about the exceptional breadth of his life’s work, one of the things that strikes me most about St. Francis Xavier is what he did when he first arrived in Goa, India, to begin his missionary work. According to accounts of his life and work, before proselytizing others, he first focused on catechizing the Portuguese who were already there. Although already Christian, their behavior was decried by other missionaries as unscrupulous.

I find this decision powerful and immensely wise. Of course, it makes sense practically, as it is much more compelling to lead by example than to be hypocritical. But it also understands the role of evangelization for the evangelist. It centers Christian witness and the idea that we cannot change the world until we change ourselves.

In short, St. Francis Xavier shows us that the missionary mandate of our Catholic faith compels us to be better for others. We cannot guide anyone to Christ unless we authentically orient ourselves to him. As a bonus, our own pursuit of salvation becomes less selfish in serving other people.

We may not all be called to journey to faraway lands to introduce Jesus to the nations, but we can all work to be more authentic witnesses to Christ.

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