There is much to learn from the life of St. Junipero Serra, the Franciscan friar who planted the seeds of the Gospel in the state of California.
His legacy is still very complicated, but throughout his life St. Junipero wanted to follow God's will and to preach the good news to anyone who would listen.
When St. John Paul II visited the United States in 1987, he highlighted three spiritual lessons we can learn from the "Apostle of California."
1None of us are exempt from evangelizing others
Father Serra was a man convinced of the Church’s mission, conferred upon her by Christ himself, to evangelize the world, to "make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Ibid. 28, 19). The way in which he fulfilled that mission corresponds faithfully to the Church’s vision today of what evangelization means: "… the Church evangelizes when she seeks to convert, solely through the divine power of the message she proclaims, both the personal and collective consciences of people, the activities in which they engage, and the lives and concrete milieux which are theirs" Pauli VI Evangelii Nuntiandi, 18).
We are all called to evangelize in our everyday lives, a mandate that is expressed in different ways, but still and always applies to us, no matter our state in life.
2We need to treat others with utmost respect and dignity
He not only brought the Gospel to the Native Americans, but as one who lived the Gospel he also became their defender and champion. At the age of 60 he journeyed from Carmel to Mexico City to intervene with the Viceroy on their behalf – a journey which twice brought him close to death – and presented his now famous Representación with its "bill of rights", which had as their aim the betterment of every phase of missionary activity in California, particularly the spiritual and physical well-being of its Native Americans.
Everyone deserves respect, and we need to treat other people as who they are, children of God, regardless of any other factor.
3Being a Christian will be difficult, full of obstacles
Father Serra and his fellow missionaries shared the conviction found everywhere in the New Testament that the Gospel is a matter of life and salvation...What other explanation can there be for the hardships that they freely and gladly endured, like St. Paul and all the other great missionaries before them: difficult and dangerous travel, illness and isolation, an ascetical life-style, arduous labor, and also, like St. Paul, that "concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11, 28) which Junípero Serra, in particular, experienced as Presidente of the California missions in the face of every vicissitude, disappointment and opposition.
Being a Christian isn't easy, and if we are truly living out our faith, we will meet many obstacles in our way. The key is to persevere in witnessing to Christ.
St. Junipero remains an inspiring figure of American history, a saint who followed God's call in his life and boldly traveled to an unknown land in order to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people who had never heard of him.
While he surely made some mistakes along the way, we can learn from his successes and his perseverance through every trial.
