There are some passages from Scripture and the writings of the saints that are wonderfully arresting, even scary. They hit us hard, shock us out of distractions, and leave us, in the words of Pope Francis, “unsettled by the living and effective word of the risen Lord.” One such text is a letter from St. Francis Xavier, whose feast day we celebrate today. Writing to his friend St. Ignatius of Loyola from the mission fields of India, Francis reports on his exhaustive efforts to evangelize the people and of his diligent teaching of the basics of the faith. He also admits, in sadness, that many are not becoming Christians, and he is unambiguously clear about the reason why: “There is nobody to make them Christians.” For St. Francis Xavier, this problem was not just about a lack of Church personnel but…