Saint Junípero was a tireless misisonary priest, spending his latter years establishing missions up and down California and coastal Mexico, converting natives to the Catholic Faith and living as a beacon of priestly zeal and heroic virtue.
But why is he considered a patron of vocations? It is probably precisely because of his missionary zeal! The entire purpose of any effort to promote vocations is for the good of the Church, which is brought about through mission.
In his younger years, Saint Junípero was not a missionary. He was widely known for his deep thinking and academic acumen. From the time he entered the Franciscan novitiate as a 16-year-old until he left Spain for the New World in 1749 at age 35, he built quite a reputation as a scholar. He studied logic, metaphysics, cosmology, and theology. He became a lector of philosophy, earned a Doctorate in Theology, and eventually occupied the Duns Scotus Chair of Philosophy at Lullian College. His peers viewed him as a holy man and a brilliant thinker and educator. In other words, he had it made as a successful academic.
But Saint Junípero’s vocation wasn’t to academia. His thoughts were constantly on those in the world without Christ. He had an essential missionary spirit, a zeal for souls, which explains why he would leave a successful teaching career to labor in the vineyard of the New World. All along the Gulf coast of Mexico and through modern-day California, he and a companion friar refused horseback, traversing the entire journey on foot, with no money and no guide. Their only possessions were the clothes on their backs and their breviaries.
Despite a chronic leg injury, asthma, and advancing age, Saint Junípero spent the final three years of his life walking the 600-mile trek between missions, confirming those who had been baptized through his ministry. It is estimated that more than 5,000 people came to Christ through his efforts.
Saint Junípero was able to see beyond his gifts and to accept the work God was calling him to. He was therefore able to lay the foundations of the Church in California, founding the great missions of San Diego, San Francisco, and many others. His vocation, and ultimately his sainthood, were discovered in missionary labor, bringing souls to God.
It seems right, then, that he is a patron of vocations, especially in the United States. A brilliant example of zeal, Saint Junípero gives us courage to continue the mission of bringing souls to Christ, despite the seeming insurmountable opposition to our Catholic culture. Let us beg his intercession to find and help young men and women who are open to living this same apostolic zeal with such intensity that they may set the world on fire for God!
