Apostles to the Indies

Right from my first day at school I was aware that somewhere on the globe there were people who were a) poor, b) not Christian and were either from c) Asia or b) Africa. We weren’t asked to feel sorry. We needed to contribute. Our faith demanded that we make a difference. They were heady, self-affirming days for the church. We in the developed world were doing what we had to do – exporting our Christian faith and heritage, missionaries, teachers, nurses, values and attitudes. Young men and women were fired with zeal to serve, and they did. Following the Second Vatican Council our surety failed and we stumbled. By the mid-70’s we developed a new confidence, but we were no longer missionaries in other lands, we had a sense that each of us is called to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. The faith communities established throughout the world by a missionary church were now established and independent, possessing indigenous clergy.

Almost 30 years ago I befriended a young Dominican priest from Valencia, Spain. His order of Dominicans was founded with a missionary spirit. Its priests were sent to the far reaches of the world. Pifa was sent to Australia to learn English, then with his English – poor as it was – he was sent to Taiwan to learn Mandarin. He laboured in Taiwan for 25 years. He was appointed Vicar General of his diocese before returning to Spain. He loved the Dominicans and loved Taiwan. But he returned to Spain spent and exhausted, troubled by burden of his role. He has since left the Dominicans, religious life and the priesthood, and now works with his brother.

Pifa was a contributor, a giver. He responded to the Gospel, and for over 35 years he offered his whole self to the work of the church, and yet what strikes to the core, is that he is a human being, driven by faith, but flawed, frail and imperfect. Perhaps that says something about our mission as a church and something about ourselves.

The icons we have set ourselves as missionaries are often lofty, saintly persons, perhaps martyrs on foreign soils. Next Wednesday is the feast of St Francis Xavier, a more famous Spanish explorer and missionary to Asia. He is believed to have personally converted over 100,000 souls. An extraordinary feat by any means and he is appropriately called the “Apostle to the Indies.” I pray that all those who labour far from home for the sake of Kingdom, and those who labour amongst us here at home are blessed with fruitfulness and riches beyond compare. But on Wednesday, I shall particularly remember Pifa.