Homily by Fr. Joseph Y. Haw, SJ
Xavier School President
“Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.” (Mark 16:15)
Synonym. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines synonym as “one of two or more words or expressions of the same language that have the same or nearly the same meaning in some or all senses”. For example, the word “shut” is a synonym for the word “close.”
When I was younger and a little bit careless, I thought it was clever to just use synonyms so that I could show my English teacher how rich my vocabulary was. Later on, I realized that synonyms cannot just be used interchangeably because they may not be exactly the same.
For example, I learned from a wise and much learned Jesuit that the word “disponibility” is a synonym for “availability”, yet they point to different dimensions of readiness. They are not exactly the same and may not simply be used interchangeably.
Availability, on one hand, is external. It’s about being free, accessible, and capable of responding to a task. It involves logistics, time, and resources. If someone asks, “Are you available?“, they’re asking if you have the capacity to do something.
Disponibility, on the other hand, is an inner attitude of openness and surrender—a willingness to respond even when it’s inconvenient or uncertain.
I think it is important to learn about these two words as we reflect on Jesus’ command to His disciples in the Gospel today: “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News.” To be able to truly respond to this call, we must confront a challenge many of us face: the danger of being merely available.
Why is availability alone not enough? Because being available doesn’t always mean we are willing to act: a person may have the time to help someone in need but choose not to because it’s inconvenient.
Someone might say, “I’ll help, but only if it benefits me.” Or worse, we can be available but place so many conditions that makes our availability hollow: “I’ll do it, but only if it’s easy, or if I get recognition for it.”
This is what you call conditional availability. And this can be a trap that keeps us stuck in inaction, masking our hesitation behind excuses.
Disponibility, however, goes beyond logistics. It’s an inner openness and surrender to God’s will, even when it requires sacrifice or leads to unexpected paths. It’s the difference between saying, “I can do it,” and saying, “I am willing to do it, no matter the cost.”
Disponibility is challenging because it calls us to let go of control, self-interest, and convenience. It asks:
● Are you willing to serve when there’s no immediate reward?
● Will you say yes to God even when it disrupts your plans or asks for sacrifice?
Jesus’s call in today’s Gospel challenges us to move beyond this limited mindset. The mission to proclaim the Good News requires more than convenience. It demands a willing and open heart, ready to say yes without reservations.
St. Francis Xavier shows us what this deeper response looks like. He was always ready to go on a mission. He was always ready to say yes to be adviser to kings and princesses. And when he was asked to leave Europe and travel to unfamiliar lands, with all the possibilities of dying there, he could have placed conditions on his mission. Because he was a brilliant scholar with a promising career ahead of him in Europe, he could have said, “I’ll serve God, but only here, where it’s familiar and comfortable.”
Yet, he didn’t place conditions on his obedience but allowed himself to be fully available and disposed of. His disponibility led him to embrace God’s call wholeheartedly, trusting that God would provide the grace he needed. In return, his disponibility led him to: adapt to new cultures and learn new languages, face rejection and hardship without losing faith, and persevere in his mission even when the fruits of his labor were not immediately visible.
Francis didn’t just show up—he poured his whole heart into his mission. He didn’t ask, “What’s in it for me?” He asked, “What more can I do for God?” He is fueled not by his own conditions but by God’s mission.
Jesus calls us, too, to move beyond the surface level of availability. He invites us to embrace the deeper readiness of disponibility—the willingness to serve without conditions, be fully disposed, ready to say yes to God in every moment. And this is where, like St. Francis Xavier, we could truly proclaim the Good News—not just with our words, but with the way we live, love, and serve.
As we honor St. Francis Xavier today, let us pray for the grace to move beyond conditional availability towards true disponibility. Let us trust that when we say yes to God without conditions, He will work through us in ways far greater than we can imagine. Like St. Francis Xavier, may we go into the world with hearts open to God’s call, willing to serve wherever He leads us. Amen.
Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us.
