St. Francis Xavier always conducted his life's work with great vitality and zeal. The moment, when Loyola asked him to join an expedition to the Far East he was "overjoyed".
He always smiled and had a joyful face - "he walked with a joyful, calm face" and "everywhere he went he always went with laughter in his face".
He was serving God and helping others. He was helping others by helping them to find God. He lived on the support of prayers that he was receiving and from all the beauty he saw around him from those who viewed his service.
St Francis Xavier's in his young days felt like an orphan (his father had passed away when Xavier was only 6 years old) and his other sister and brothers had married. For much of his life he struggled with feelings of loneliness, depression and chronic feelings of inferiority.
Enthusiasm is underscored when recognizing that his work and life were not easy.
Seventeenth century sea voyages were filled with life-threatening dangers.
St. Francis Xavier had unlimited confidence in God this in turn freed him from discouragement in the face of obstacles and reverses. This total confidence he had in god enabled him to travel through life with his sense of joy and enthusiasm.
It is important to note that …….He wrote to a fellow Jesuits about his safe arrival after traveling once……. "In this life, we find our greatest comfort living in the midst of danger, that is, if we confront them solely for the love of God."