Homily for Memorial of St. Junipero Serra

Homily for the Memorial of
St. Junipero Serra

July 1, 2024
Matt 8:18-22
Provincial House, New Rochelle, N.Y.

St. Junipero Serra
statue in U.S. Capitol

Junipero Serra committed himself to follow the Lord wherever that might lead him.  Always on the move—on foot, in spite of a permanently injured leg—he often lacked a place to rest his head.  He left family and culture—and a promising academic career—to go to New Spain as a missionary.  (See Matt 8:19-21.)  Eventually, he led the mission to settle Upper California, founding missions from San Diego to San Francisco.  He died at St. Charles Borromeo Mission in Carmel and is buried there.

Unlike the Israelites denounced by Amos today (2:6-10,13-16), Fray Junipero appreciated God’s gifts and shared them generously with the native people.  He encouraged but didn’t force conversion, he taught them useful skills, and he defended their human rights against the soldiers and other settlers.  He even hiked back to Mexico City—I don’t know where he started from, but it’s 1,750 miles from San Diego to Mexico City—to press the Indians’ rights with the governor.

He was austere with himself; his bed, preserved at Carmel, makes our camp beds look almost luxurious—and lived his motto “ever forward,” which he practiced on foot, advancing Spanish culture but above all Jesus Christ.  He models for us our educational and evangelical mission “to carry always and everywhere before all people the image” of God’s Son (Collect).