Novena of Grace Day 1

Novena of Grace Day 1 - March 4th, 2026

This is a Wednesday, right? What are y'all doing in church on a Wednesday, middle of the day? No, it's wonderful to see so many people here for this novena of grace. And what an honor it is for me to be here with you today. My name is Father Brian Christopher, as Father Brendan mentioned at the beginning. You can tell from my outrageous Midwestern accent that I'm from the United States.

But I've lived the last 15 years in Belize, which is a small country, just on the Caribbean coast of Central America. We're an English-speaking nation, English and Spanish and some of the indigenous languages. We're a small country, but unfortunately, we're a country that gets buffeted by all the different waves of narco-trafficking and human trafficking and all the rest. So even as a small country, we certainly have our problems. We Jesuits, we've been there in Belize for 175 years. This is our anniversary this year. So, we decided that we would share with you a little gift on the occasion of our anniversary. We have some prayer cards on the railing back there in the aisle commemorating the novena of grace. So please feel free to help yourself to those.

As I said, it's a real pleasure to be here. It's a thrill. There are a lot of firsts today. This is my first time in Ireland, in your fair nation, so far so good. I brought the sun with me, so you can enjoy that, at least for the time being. This is also my first time preaching the novena of grace. I've never done this before. In fact, I've never made the novena of grace. In fact, I'd never heard of it until just a few years ago. I know that's kind of heretical, huh? I just, I never grew up with it. So, it's been a good thing for me. And in fact, and I'm going to, I don't mean to shock you or scandalize you here, you know, I know, I've known very little about St. Francis Xavier. And I know that that's crazy. How could a Jesuit, and I've been a Jesuit for 30 years, how could a Jesuit know so little about St. Francis Xavier? And I got to be honest with you, I kind of dismissed him. I dismissed him because he gets all the attention. I mean, think about how many Francis Xavier churches there are in the world, or how many Saint Francis Xavier schools. I thought, nah, give me the more obscure saints. I like them a little bit better. And Xavier always seemed to me like the poster boy of a bygone era, right? The poster boy for Christendom. a Christendom that probably never existed and certainly never will. And I thought, man, I don't know. And the only thing I knew about him from my time in formation was that he worked himself to death. And I thought, ah, the last thing I need is another guilt trip. So, I kind of dismissed him.

So, this has been an occasion for me of going back into his story with the help of Father Brendan's book, a little plug for the book, But it's been fascinating. And the more I learn about him, the more I like him. And the more I begin to see how important Saint Francis Xavier is. Not just in the history of the church, although that's certainly true, but how important he is, especially now in our world. Saint Francis Xavier is a saint for us today. And I know that sounds very trite to say, but I mean that. Listen, Francis Xavier was certainly a holy man, but what made him holy was not all the miracles he was reported to have performed. What made him holy was that he was able to engage all the rough edges in his own heart, and he was able to go out into a world that at that time was totally unknown. He was a man who seemed at home with chaos. and the unknown. He was okay going to places where there were no maps. And so, what an important guy because in some ways, we're all in that place. Raise your hand if you ever feel like your life is falling apart or chaotic. Raise your hand if you ever feel completely lost. You can raise your hand; it's not a sin. And for those of you that didn't, we'll have confessions afterwards. Of course. This is all of us, isn't it? I mean, we all feel that way sometimes. And Francis Xavier is exactly the saint that we need in those moments. Now, you know his story, right?

But I think it's important to point something out here, that his world, although he lived in the 16th century, was not that different from our world today. The old-world order was falling away and a new and unknown and kind of frightening world order was beginning. Xavier was born in a family of minor nobility in northern Spain. His family had a proud heritage, but at that moment in the 16th century, their nobility meant very little. He was born in the small kingdom of Navarre in northern Spain, right on the border with France. But at that moment, what we now call Spain was made-up of all these small kingdoms, but they were all starting to consolidate. And consolidation meant that the Xavier family would lose some of their power and prestige. So that was a difficult time. Everything was changing. This new world was beginning. A second big difference that was, or I should say, a second similarity between the 16th century and the world of today was new forms of communication were starting to emerge. The printing press had just been invented. And with the printing press, they started printing Bibles and other tracts. And so, ideas began to spread, and education became more important.

Again, compare that to our world today. Think about all the new forms of communication that we have now that 15 years ago we didn't have. Ten years ago, we didn't have. A third big similarity. The world of the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation had begun and was in full force by the time Francis Xavier came around. All these new religious ideas, some of them good, many of them not so good, were all emerging. Again, Think about our time now, all the different ideas that are available to us, and how lost so many of us feel. We remember, we harken back to a time when everything seemed so clear. We knew clearly what it was to do the right thing. With these new ideas, we have to have a more discerning spirit. Francis Xavier and Ignatius Loyola and those early Jesuits understood that.

The fourth similarity between the world of the 16th century and our world today was that we of European descent, we usually refer to that era as the Age of Discovery, do we not? Where bold explorers from Europe went and they discovered, they explored parts of what's now Africa and the Far East and the Americas. What we, what I grew up referring to as the age of discovery, on the other hand, was also an age of great suffering and even genocide. In the part of the world where I live now, the great kingdom of the Maya came crashing down when the European discoverers came along with the church. So, it was a mixed bag, very much a mixed bag. Again, compare that to our world today. Think about all the suffering in the world. Think about the advances of technology and what a blessing they can be. But on the other hand, what great suffering they can cause. So, we live in a similar world, and here's Francis Xavier, and he's going to be our guide for this week. And so, I would just invite you during the course of this week, as we pray through his life, as we pray with our lives, Maybe to take a look at our own lives and to not be afraid of those places in our lives that feel weak or broken, those places of suffering in our hearts.

This is the time to go there; to go to those places inside of us where maybe we do not yet have maps, to go to those places inside of our own hearts that feel chaotic. and to go there armed only with the love of God, just as Xavier did when he got on those boats. I'll say this last thing, and then I'll be quiet. Maybe during your time here, I know that we have intentions. But maybe as the week goes on, pay attention to the deeper intentions in your own lives. What are those deeper desires that you bring into this novena? What are the things that you long for in your heart that would bring you peace, that would bring you deeper love? What are those places in your own life where Christ wants to be born, where Christ wants to be resurrected yet again? Let's take some time this week and let's pray with that, and I look forward to walking with you.

NOW LET US PRAY THE NOVENA PRAYER.

O most kind and loving saint, in union with you I adore the Divine Majesty. The remembrance of the favours with which God blessed you during life, and of your glory after death, fills me with joy; and I unite with you in offering to Him my humble tribute of thanksgiving and of praise, I implore of you to secure for me through your powerful intercession the all-important blessing of living and dying in the state of grace. I also beseech you to obtain the favour I ask in this Novena …...here ask for the favour you wish to obtain…. but if what I ask is not for the glory of God or for the good of my soul, obtain for me what is most conducive to both. Amen.

Let us pray…

O God, who was pleased to gather into your Church the peoples of the East by the preaching and miracles of blessed Francis, mercifully grant that we, who honor his glorious merits, may also imitate the example of his virtues, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.