Dec 3 – Feast of St. Francis Xavier, presbyter, religious, missionary (Principal Patron of Foreign Missions)
St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was a nobleman from the Basque region. He studied and taught philosophy at the University of Paris, and planned a career as a professor. He was a friend of St. Ignatius of Loyola, who convinced him to use his talents to spread the Gospel. He was one of the founding Jesuits, and the first Jesuit missionary.
In Goa, India, while waiting to take the ship, he preached in the street, worked with the sick, and taught children their catechism. He would walk through the streets, ringing a bell to call the children to their studies. He was said to have converted the entire city.
He scolded his patron, King John of Portugal, over the slave trade: “You have no right to spread the Catholic faith while you take away all the country’s riches. It upsets me to know that at the hour of your death, you may be ordered out of paradise.”
He was a tremendously successful missionary for the ten years he was in India, the East Indies, and Japan, baptizing more than 40,000 converts. His epic finds him dining with head hunters, washing the sores of lepers in Venice, teaching catechism to Indian children, baptizing 10,000 in a single month. He tolerated the most appalling conditions on long sea voyages, enduring extremes of heat and cold. Wherever he went, he would seek out and help the poor and forgotten. He travelled thousands of miles, most on his bare feet, and he saw the greater part of the Far East. He had the gift of tongues, and was a miracle worker. He raised people from the dead, calmed storms. He was a prophet and a healer.
- Patron Saint Index
1 Cor 9:16-19,22-23
Mk 16:15-20
I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it!
When St Paul says, “I should be punished if I did not preach the Gospel,” I understand the heart behind his words. When God places a gift or a calling in your life, there is something within you that knows it is meant to be used. Even if you step away for a time, the calling remains.
There was a period when I felt I had completely had enough of serving in the choir ministry. The ministry politics drained me. I felt my faith was not growing, and instead of feeling joy at Mass, I felt resentment. I believed I was done with serving.
One evening, without planning it, I felt drawn to attend the evening Mass at Novena Church. After Mass, there was an audition call. I stepped in, not expecting anything. I did not know that this small decision would lead me to two very good friends, people who would walk with me and who belong to another parish where I now serve and lead a choir. Looking back, I see how gently God redirected me, even at a time when I thought I had walked away.
This is where St Paul’s words come alive for me. Our gifts are not accidents. Our callings are not coincidences. God uses unexpected moments to bring us back to where we are meant to serve, especially when we have lost heart.
Every Sunday we wake up before dawn to sing at the 7am Mass at the Church of St Francis Xavier, I am reminded that singing is one way I “preach the Gospel.” It is not through words but through music, prayer, presence, and offering the gifts God has placed in my hands.
This year, our choir is preparing something incredibly special — our Christmas concert, Find Us Ready, Lord: A Christmas of Hope. Overseeing this concert has shown me how much I love our community. Every member learns their part and supports one another with such generosity, making this concert possible. We carry this ministry together.
But beyond the music, my deepest hope is that the concert becomes a way of evangelising. I pray that someone who attends may feel God again. I pray that someone who is tired or discouraged may rediscover hope. I pray that someone who feels far away may feel gently called home.
And because the concert supports the building of the new Church of St Jude Thaddaeus, our offering becomes something even larger than ourselves. It becomes a gift for the future — a foundation of faith for all who will one day worship and encounter Christ in that space.
St Paul reminds us that we share the Gospel with whatever God has placed in our hands. For me, it is music, community, and a choir ministry that God brought me back to, precisely at the moment I thought I had let it go.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stacey Fernandez)
Prayer: Lord, make my heart ready to serve You with love. Guide our choir as we offer our music and let our concert lead someone closer to You.
Thanksgiving: Thank You, Lord, for bringing me back to this ministry, for the friends You placed in my path, and for the chance to serve You through music.
OXYGEN 
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