FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024
Ayres Sequeira
The feast of St Francis Xavier is an annual religious event in Old Goa. Pilgrims converge here at the Basilica of Bom Jesus to pay homage to the sacred relics of the saint. After the novena service a serpentine queue is seen slowly moving into the Basilica to seek blessings and pay their gratitude in return for favours received from the Saint.
This year we return to the site of prayers and devotion after a long patient wait of one year since the pandemic broke out in 2020. In fact we return with greater zeal and religious fervour which is the results of undue SOPs and restrictions imposed after the lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 strike the world over.
Rightfully, this year the theme chosen for the novena reflection is: Stay with us, Lord.... thoughtfully chosen by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao in keeping with the community longing to return to the church and its religious activities. Separation is the worst pain one can suffer, so is the spiritual longing for God. When one encounters the presence of God, our worldly life loses interest in achieving worldly fame and honour. So was the case with Francis Xavier from Navara, a province in Spain. But for Ignatius Loyola who reminded Francis Xavier of the emptiness of this world with the Bible quote: ‘what does it profit a man to win the whole world and lose his soul in eternity?’ These words hit hard in the mind of Francis and pondering upon them he changed his outlook to devote his life in the service of God to work for the spiritually poor people that they too may find life into eternal existence never to be lost into eternity.
Francis joined the Society of Jesus which later came to be known as Jesuits. He lived a very hard life not caring for himself but to proclaim the Word of God that the message reached everybody. He travelled to many parts of the world to carry his mission to enlighten the people on the spirituality of life and to save it from losing it eternally. He worked for the downtrodden, the poor, the sick and those needing caring services. Jesus life when he was present among people was the same. He said: I have come here not on my own but to do my Father's will. Francis followed in the same footsteps of Jesus. For all that he lived and proclaimed the Word of God after hearing from Ignatius Loyola, at the end of his life he was awarded with his body remaining incorruptible in return for with God being pleased with his mission.
The situation appears similar in 2021 with the quote ringing into our ears: Stay with us Lord. The apostles of Jesus experienced him while on their way to Emmaus a few kms from Jerusalem and they wanted him to stay with them. We want the same Jesus today to stay with us in this life of struggle and injustice we are facing with. May all those who hear the quote experience Jesus and like St Francis Xavier we too may spread the Good News to those who have not heard but hear and bring a change in life worth living.
