Jesuit High School of New Orleans

Waiting by Xavier…

Pre-freshman Brett Power, lost in thought, waits for his ride home on Tuesday. The Blue Jay was sitting on the steps leading to the Auditorium entrance on South Solomon Street. In the background is a statue of St. Francis Xavier, one of the original founders of the Society of Jesus. The statue was a graduation gift from a senior class a few years ago. However, the plaque with the class year that gifted the statue is missing. Well, here’s a nugget of info about St. Francis Xavier, written in a Jaynotes issue some seven years ago (Jaynotes, Winter/ Spring 2006-07) by one of our longtime resident theologians, Fr. Nick Schiro, S.J. ’44. The article, “Three Jubilees,” was about three college roommates – Ignatius of Loyola, Peter Faber, and Francis Xavier. According to the story, “Xavier was a harder nut to crack. Francis took an immediate dislike to Ignatius and frequently put him down for his great spiritual desire. But Ignatius saw something special in Xavier and tried in every way to win him over, even helping him out when he was low on funds. He would frequently quote to him the words of the gospel: “Francis, Francis, ‘What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?’” Ignatius finally broke through the hard shell and ignited the flame in Xavier’s heart that would make him the great missionary saint of India.” Something to remember next time you pass that innocuous looking statue with its hand pointed toward the heavens.