Novena of Grace Day 2

My friends, when you close your eyes and you pray, and you picture God, how does God look at you? What is the look on God's face when you imagine God looking at you? We all have in our heads an image of God. It's like It's like a Polaroid picture that we all carry around in our heads. Or I'm sorry, if you're under a certain age, it’s like an Instagram or whatever, right, whatever. I'm not sure that people under 30 know what a Polaroid is anymore. And I think all of us have it.

And it doesn't matter what religion you are, or if you're no religion. I think that even atheists have an image in their head of who this guy is that they reject. And this picture that we carry around of who God is, it's more than just a picture. It's more than just an image. It's an understanding we have of who God is. It's what we really believe God is like. And we receive this image when we're very young. We learn this image of God from our parents, from teachers, maybe from pastors. And as we grow up, the idea is that As we grow and mature, that our image of God also grows and matures. Unfortunately for many of us, we remain stuck in the old images that we learned when we're children. But that image of God can change, and it can grow, and it can mature. And so, some of us, we walk around and we think of God, if we're honest with ourselves, as being maybe more like a magistrate. A God who's up there with clipboard in hand, ticking off all the sins, so that when we appear before him in St. Peter, it's like, ah, nah, sorry. Nah, uh-uh. Or maybe sometimes we think of God as being like a mean headmaster, right? A headmaster who sends us these terrible trials in our lives to teach us a lesson, or to teach us how to love better. Okay, or maybe we think of God as a as a police officer no offense to anybody in law enforcement here this was my image of God growing up that God was like a police officer kind of kept his distance from me he was always there always there but kind of kept his distance until I did something wrong and as soon as I did something wrong bam he'd get me that was my image of God and I have to confess if I'm honest I was terrified of God when I was a child.

Now, if you asked me, I would've said, Sure, God loves me, God loves me. But deep down, did I really believe that? I'm not so sure. I think God was always disappointed in me, that's for sure. But it took a long time for me to come through that, to come through the other side. Here's why I'm bringing this up. Talking about St. Francis Xavier. If you were to go to Spain and go visit the Xavier Castle in the north of Spain, there's a small oratory or a small chapel inside the castle, as most castles had back in those days. And on the wall of that chapel is a large crucifix carved out of wood. And if you look carefully on the face of the crucifix, Jesus is smiling. And so, the prayer cards that I brought from Belize to share with you the image that we chose for the card was the face of Christ on that crucifix, smiling. Now, it's not a great big goofy grin, God's not laughing, but it's more a smile of contentment, as though Jesus was looking down at Francis or whoever was there praying with a sense of, I'm proud of you, boy, I'm proud of you. And when I think of this, I always think of the gospel we just had this past Sunday the Transfiguration where Jesus goes up on the mountaintop and the voice booms down from heaven and says this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and here's the good news that same voice says the same thing to you and I there's my beloved son you are my beloved son I love you and I'm proud of you are my beloved daughter I love you and I'm proud of you. How much God longs for us to hear those words, I love you and I'm proud of you. And how much our own hearts long to hear those words from God.

Some of us, we long to hear those words from anybody. And so, there was Francis as a young boy growing up in the Xavier Castle. And every day, if he went to his prayers in the morning, he would look up and he would see that image of Christ looking down on him, saying, Young man, I love you and I'm proud of you. I have to believe that that had an impact on young Francis's life. So that when the difficult times came, even when he was a child, and his family lost much of their wealth, and they lost their prestige when the troops faithful to King Ferdinand came and sacked the castle. I have to believe that even in those moments when Xavier had to leave, the Xavier family left, that even in those moments Francis could close his eyes and he could still see that image of Christ on the cross, looking down at him saying, I love you and I'm proud of you.

Or when Francis was 18 and he was sent off to the University of Paris, to a different country, speaking a different language, to study philosophy, theology, that in those moments, that that same image of God gave him the courage to step forward and to step into that new world. And that even when Francis became a Jesuit, and he left Europe, and he went to India, those months on the ship when he was seasick, he spent two months seasick on a boat on his way to Europe. or on his way to India, that in those moments what gave him courage was once again closing his eyes and seeing that image of Christ beaming down at him, saying, Son, I love you and I'm proud of you. Or in those moments towards the end of his life when he wondered if all of his efforts, all of his labors were coming to naught, that even in those moments, thousands of miles away from his friends and family and from anything comfortable and familiar that in those moments, once again, he could close his eyes and he could see the face of Christ saying, Son, I love you and I'm proud of you, no matter what.

How hungry we all are as human beings to see that. Every week I go out to a prison in Belize, I go to the central prison, and I'll tell you what, the one thing that all of those inmates have in common is that they never got the message as kids, that they are loved, that God loves them, and that God is proud of them. And my number one job as a priest, the very centre of my calling is to make sure that they hear that message. My number one calling is to make sure that each of you hears that message. And our number one calling as Christians is to make sure that everybody out there hears that same message, that God loves them. and God is proud of them. No matter who they are, no matter where they're coming from, no matter what simpleness they're up to, that God loves them and is proud of them. How would our lives change, sisters and brothers, if we truly believe that? Would we still carry around all the fear and anxiety in our hearts that we do? Would we still walk around with the same jealousies and resentments that we all do? Would one person try to take advantage of another? Would we start wars as often as we do if we truly believe that at our core, the very core of our being, we are love?

I want to invite you, maybe today, to take a little bit of time and ask yourself seriously, what is your image of God? When you close your eyes, when you imagine Christ, how does he look at you? Does he smile? Or does he frown? How about that? Just start with a simple question. And the good news is, sisters and brothers, that that image of God, no matter what it is in our hearts, it can always change. The more time we spend in prayer, the more time we spend with the scriptures and especially the gospels, we come to understand who this God is. Because this God is desperate to reveal himself, the truth.

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 honour his glorious merits, may also imitate the example of his virtues, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.