Given at St Joseph’s Wealdstone at the Mass opening the centenary year fo mark the death of the Venerable Francis Jordan on the feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, 8th September 2017.
This evening three strands of this celebration come together and invite our reflection:
First, the opening of the centenary celebrations to mark the death of the Founder, Venerable Francis Mary of the Cross Jordan next year;
Second, the birthday of Our Lady;
Third, the Jubiliarians’ celebrations, in particular, we celebrate with those who have made a special effort to be present
- Fr Noel Keane celebrating 60 years of profession
- Fr Michael Doherty, 40 years
- Fr Peter Preston, 65 years, sadly not with us this evening
- Fr Bernard Finan, 50 years of ordination
These anniversaries invite us to reflect on the mystery of God’s call, our response and the commitment to service in the work of the Lord.
The birthday of Our Blessed Lady reveals the mystery of the invitation of the angel Gabriel to the young woman, Mary of Nazareth, and the generosity and risk to be found in her response FIAT, ‘I am the servant of the Lord’. She reveals a spirit of generosity and humility. The mystery of call is that God, in his wisdom, chose this particular young woman in Nazareth and graced her so fully from her birth that she is the Immaculate Conception. God graced her whilst preserving her freedom so that she might be a worthy temple and sanctuary for her son.
On her birthday, we reflect on the mysteries of her life, especially the gift and the cross. The image of Mary standing at the cross witnessing the suffering of her Son points us back to the song of the angels, ‘Today a Saviour has been born for you’ and back to the mystery of the Divine Saviour sent to redeem us by the cross and give us the gift of eternal life.
At the heart of the call of Francis Jordan, we find the mystery of the divine love of the Redeemer which touched his heart so deeply that his life’s passion was to make this gift widely known through his work and into the future through the missionary apostolate of the Order, the Salvatorians, which he would found.
Etched into his heart we find these words, ‘And this is eternal life to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent’ (Jn 17:3).
The mystery of God’s call to choose those who are poor, weak and lowly, is seen further in the call of Francis Jordan. He was born in Gurtweil a small village near Baden in Southern Germany in 1848, the year of revolutions. As much of Europe experienced turmoil and war, God sowed the seed of faith in the heart of Francis through his baptism, the learning of his prayers and reception of his first Holy Communion. As a young boy he grew in prayer and meditation. He delighted in the life of the saints, the reading of the Bible and quickly decided that he wanted to be a priest. Whilst he was poor, he knew that there was no success in half measures, and threw himself into the hard work of entering seminary and becoming a seminarian for the priesthood. He added the name ‘Mary of the Cross’ to his name and so closely associated himself with the Blessed Virgin Mary and her suffering at the foot of the cross. She is the intercessor for both his prayers and our prayers.
After ordination in 1878 at the age of 30, he was asked to study ancient languages in Rome and quickly felt the call to establish an apostolic society dedicated to proclaiming the salvation that comes through Christ. He was a pioneer in the work of evangelisation and made known the mystery of God’s saving and merciful love for all people. Because he followed God’s calling, today we celebrate not only the life of the Salvatorians here in Wealdstone since1901 but also their presence in so many countries of the world. I welcome Fr Richard, the Provincial, whose call was heard in the Congo, and of course Fr Auson from Tanzania. Fr Jordan’s first mission territory was North East India, an area for which the Pope had difficulties finding missionaries. We rejoice as we begin the year of celebration to mark the centenary of his death.
The mystery of God’s call is seen in the priests whose jubilees we celebrate today. September 8th is the day on which they professed their vows so it is their anniversary. Their long lives of dedicated service (Fr Michael being the youngster of the group) speak of the call of God and the response in grace to this invitation. While Mary, the Mother of God, and the Venerable Francis remind us more fully of the work of God’s grace, we each know that we depend on his grace for our life and ministry.
God calls and seeks that we serve others. The charism of the Salvatorians is to communicate the hope of the message of the Divine Saviour and his love for each one of us, however broken or weak. We see the compassionate face of Christ revealed in the scriptures as he reaches down and touches those who are sick, poor, rejected, weak or dying. He communicates love, hope and life. This is the promise he has made to us. Reflecting on the ministry of the Jubilarians, we see the work of faithfully spreading this message, the joy of a life committed to evangelisation, and hard hours laboured in parish work and teaching boys. The rebuilding of the school next door expresses the desire of the Salvatorians to continue to commit to the education of boys and to teach them about Christ. It is a lived commitment from which so many families present have benefitted.
Finally, the mystery of God’s call invites each one of us to reflect on our own calling, whether priesthood, religious life, marriage or a committed single life. It is also an invitation to pray for men to enter the Salvatorian Order (or the diocese!), or the religious life. Across the road the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions have shown their commitment to the education of girls.
With the approach of the synod next autumn on youth, faith and vocational discernment, one of the challenges is to help young people understand the mystery of God’s call, to discern how God is calling them and to have the capacity to respond generously. This is a challenge for all of you during this year of anniversary; it is not just about remembering the past but looking into the future and the continuing mystery of God’s grace through which he calls his followers and disciples. We ask the prayer of Our Blessed Lady on her birthday.