A few weeks ago, Jorge Bergoglio the Bishop of Rome said to a gathering of Catholic teachers in Rome:
One cannot speak of Catholic
education without speaking of humanity, because, precisely, the Catholic
identity is God who became man. To go forward in attitudes, in full human
values, opens the door to the Christian seed. Then faith comes. To educate in a
Christian way is not only to engage in catechesis: this is one part. It is not
only engaging in proselytism—never proselytize in schools! Never!
In his audience yesterday, he stated:
The pope
appealed to all young people, calling on them to reflect on their vocation and
"to not exclude the possibility of becoming a missionary" and to
preach with their lives, not by proselytizing.
"Those
who are looking for something else are the ones that (proselytize)," he
said. "Faith is preached first through witness then with words -- but
slowly."
We can add this to his previous statements to Scalfari, publisher of La Repubblica, the only newspaper he allegedly reads, that "proselytizing is solemn nonsense."
When Catholics help the poor as the example he gave in Africa, they do it because they are Catholic not because the people in need are. In Toronto, the hospital that does the most caring and research for people with AIDS is St. Michael's Hospital, founded by the once great and mighty Sisters of St. Joseph. All people are helped, not just Catholics. Nobody has to right a test to receive help from a Catholic charity, Where does he get this idea?
Today is the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, the "second Apostle" to India after St. Thomas the Apostle. When one sees the situation with our Jesuit Pope, and other media talking head and twitterati Jesuits, it is a far cry from the spirit of Francis and Ignatius and Jean de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues and companions or Paul Miki, these great Saints of God. I wonder what they would think of the above. Oh for Jesuits such as these.
What follows is from Matins today.
Third Reading from Matins according to the 1961 Divine Office:
Francis was
born of noble family at Xavier in the diocese of Pamplona. In Paris, he joined
the companions and disciples of St. Ignatius, and in a short time became a
shining example of austerity of life and untiring contemplation of divine
things. Paul III made him apostolic nuncio to India, and he traveled about
through countless provinces, always on foot and often barefoot. He brought the
faith to Japan and six other regions. In India he converted many hundreds of
thousands to Christianity, cleansing many princes and kings in the holy waters
of baptism. His humility was so great that, when he wrote to St. Ignatius, his
general, he always did so on his knees. By many and wonderful miracles, the
Lord confirmed his zealous work in spreading the Gospel. Finally, on the
Chinese island of Sancian, he died on the 2nd of December, rich in merits and
worn out with his labors. Gregory XV enrolled him among the Saints, and Pius X,
appointed him the heavenly patron of the Society of the Propagation of the
Faith and of its work.
The Second Reading from the Liturgy of the Hours
A letter from St Francis
Xavier to St Ignatius
Woe to me
if I do not preach the Gospel
We have
visited the villages of the new converts who accepted the Christian religion a
few years ago. No Portuguese live here, the country is so utterly barren and
poor. The native Christians have no priests. They know only that they are
Christians. There is nobody to say Mass for them; nobody to teach them the
Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Commandments of God’s Law.
I have not stopped since the day I arrived. I
conscientiously made the rounds of the villages. I bathed in the sacred waters
all the children who had not yet been baptized. This means that I have purified
a very large number of children so young that, as the saying goes, they could
not tell their right hand from their left. The older children would not let me
say my Office or eat or sleep until I taught them one prayer or another. Then I
began to understand: “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
I could not refuse so devout a request
without failing in devotion myself. I taught them, first the confession of
faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, then the Apostles’ Creed, the
Our Father and Hail Mary. I noticed among them persons of great intelligence.
If only someone could educate them in the Christian way of life, I have no
doubt that they would make excellent Christians.
Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming
Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again
and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially
Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those
with more learning than charity: “What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut
out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!”
I wish they would work as hard at this as
they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning
and the talents entrusted to them.
This thought would certainly stir most of
them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is
saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and
give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out
with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me
anywhere you like – even to India.
St. Francis Xavier, pray for us, interceded for the Church.
