This is me

Hi! My name is not George Xavier. But that’s the name I’ve given myself and names are important so a few piecemeal stories about three Georges and three Xaviers are also a roundabout way of also explaining why I’m here.

Xavier 1 – St. Francis Xavier was one of the original Jesuits (for whose spirituality I have a particular fondness and gratitude) who died in Japan after preaching the Good News and Baptizing thousands. I saw the reliquary containing the right hand with which he baptized so many in one of my favorite churches in Rome, the Church of the Gesu. The lines of the angels to the shepherds in the Christmas Story invariably give me a thrill: “Be not afraid for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will come to all the people, for to you is born, this day, in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.” All that I have been given and taught, all that I have seen and read and known and all that has been grown in me by my Catholic Faith has set in me a firm conviction that no matter the darkness, there is always hope; that the world is charged with meaning and that beauty and truth and goodness and love are the deeper reality because the WORD was made flesh and dwelt among us. This impossible good news, in its simplicity and in all of its ramifications, is what the world so desperately needs to hear.

Xavier 2: Charles Xavier was, of course, not a real person like my other Xaviers, but on my first viewing of the XMen movies last year, I found myself identifying with the super-empath to a startling degree and was even (perhaps ridiculously) moved to tears in Days of Future Past when a young Charles is counseled by an older Charles on the pain and worth of having compassion for a broken world. “It’s the greatest gift we have, to bear their pain without breaking, and it comes from the most human part of us: hope. Please, Charles, we need you to hope again.” The world is broken, people are broken and sometimes it’s tempting to retreat from all the pain and darkness, but reality is cruciform and Christ is to be found in the brokenness.

Xavier 3: A more recent discovery on my part, Fr. Francis Xavier Morgan was a priest at the Birmingham Oratory during the formative years of a young J.R.R. Tolkien and was hugely instrumental in the faith of the brilliant writer. In a beautiful essay on Divine Providence, Bishop Barron displays the thread that runs from John Henry Newman, to Fr. Morgan, to J.R.R. Tolkien, to Stephen Colbert and how, though divided by centuries, each was able to be an instrument of grace in the life of the next in powerful ways. This article was especially moving to me since J.R.R. Tolkien has had a massive influence on my life and faith – particularly in my devotion to the Eucharist and my perception of Beauty. By displaying one thread by which my story is connected to so many others, I saw again but from a new angle, the intricate intentionality of God’s Story in each of our lives.

George 1: St. George is the patron of England and is iconic of holy, Christian knighthood. I’ve always loved battlefield imagery in the Spiritual Life and St. George is one of the originals. And if that wasn’t enough, there’s this epic video of Tom Hiddleston doing an impromptu recitation from Shakespeare culminating in the battle cry “…and upon this charge cry God for Harry, England and St. George!”

George 2: My sister and I have always liked to think of ourselves as Fred and George Weasley from Harry Potter. I don’t know about you, but their light-hearted but very real goodness, is easily one of my favorite threads throughout the books. They invariably bring comic relief, but also are the first to effectively stand up to Umbridge and are as quick to give of themselves heroically as they are to play pranks on everyone they meet.

George 3: Finally, the hero of my childhood favorite book, Enemy Brothers, is named George Dymory Ingleford. He's the ideal older brother whose quiet strength and kindness eventually change and heal his Nazi-raised little brother. The image of the patient, devoted, heroic brother profoundly influenced my perception of Christ as our brother and contributed to making Boromir's words my favorite title for Christ - "my Brother, my Captain, my King."

I have named myself after a missionary, a counselor, a mentor of my hero, a holy soldier, a light-hearted force for good, and the quintessential brother in hopes that they will inspire me. In whatever I do, my dream is to be a bringer of good news, a compassionate heart for those who hurt, a writer and a pursuer of beauty, and to be both light-hearted and earnest in my fight for the good, the true and the beautiful.

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