EVANGELIZATION WITHOUT BORDERS.
The feast day of Saint Francis Xavier holds great significance for the deep core of the Quebec Foreign Missions Society’s spirituality. The missionary passion of this 16th-century Spanish Jesuit saint serves as a major source of spiritual inspiration for this"young" missionary society, established by the French-speaking Canadian bishops in Quebec at the start of the 20th century.
December 3, the date Saint Francis Xavier is celebrated , offers a unique chance for all the church but specially to the SME members, associates, affiliates, and friends to pause and consider the heritage of the inspirations that sprang from the society's founding as well as the central values that direct their missionary work. Saint Francis Xavier, known for his devotion and commitment to evangelization, personifies very well the ideal of Christian mission in so called “distant lands”.
The spirituality of Saint Francis Xavier resonates with the SME missionaries, who have a strong desire to spread the light of faith where it is most needed. Over the course of more than a century, missionaries have worked in remote areas, giving preference to those who are poor, and spreading the message of Christian love and hope to all peoples, whether or not they identify as Christians. Their work has been guided by the desire to live together in the various intercultural realities with a rooted fraternal spirit .
Thus, the feast of Saint Francis Xavier becomes a time of spiritual renewal for the whole SME, an occasion when missionaries, motivated by the example of this great saint, can boost their dedication to the mission. This feast is characterized by prayer, meditation, and festivities in community, which serve to strengthen the spiritual ties that bind our missionary community to Saint Francis Xavier's mission.
On this feast day, our society looks to Saint Francis Xavier as a spiritual mentor, drawing courage and inspiration from his life devoted to evangelization. It is a point in time when spirituality and mission converge to create a relationship that is everlasting and motivates the present generation to carry on the honorable task of evangelization without borders til the less known regions of the globe.