‘A voice cries in the wilderness, prepare a way for the Lord,’ these words we have just heard from the mouth of St John the Baptist as recorded in St Luke’s Gospel.

Nineteen hundred years later the same words might well have come from the mouth of Father Francis Jordan, the founder of the Salvatorians whose 125th anniversary we celebrate today.

In fact Father Francis Jordan had a very strong identification with John the Baptist since not only was his surname Jordan, after the famous river in which John actually conducted his Baptisms, but he was fortuitously given the name John Baptist at his own Baptism.

We might dismiss these things as mere coincidences but you must be surely aware that such seemingly chance occurrences can have a profound effect on a person. They can change your life and give you a strong sense of destiny.

This was certainly the case with Father Jordan who from childhood understood that God had some important task for him to perform. As time unfolded he became aware that this was to found a new Society within the Church which would gather together apostolically minded people to spread the Good News of the Gospel and help people everywhere to become more deeply aware of the salvation that is only to be found in Christ.

This Society was of course to become the Salvatorians which is flourishing today in so many countries with about five thousand members, priests, brothers, sisters and laity, working to make the Divine Saviour more widely known.

A lot of people thought that Jordan was mad just as a lot of people thought that John the Baptist was also mad. But then exceptional people the world over are often thought to be a bit funny in the head by those who do not understand them.

What we are dealing with here are prophets. St John the Baptist could be regarded as the last of the Old Testament prophets and in his role as the fore-runner of Christ he could also be thought of as the first of the New Testament prophets. And it is in this long line that we find Francis Jordan, a true prophet of the New Testament.

A lot of people think that a prophet foretells the future, but this is misguided because they are not fortune-tellers or clairvoyants. What a prophet does is see the present in the light of the eternal. The prophet sees with the eyes of God, if you like. He or she has a heightened sensitivity to the spiritual, to the things of God. And it is their task to communicate these insights to those around them.

It is this spiritual dimension which is so well developed in the life of a prophet that makes them appear strange and confusing to people without understanding. But not, of course, to everyone because once you begin to get on the wavelength of a prophet you begin to realise that they are saying something of real importance to you personally as well as to the whole of mankind.

John the Baptist was alerting people to the immanent arrival of the Messiah urging them to repent of their sins through a form of Baptism. Father Jordan did much the same; he saw that his task and that of the members of his Society was to help people come to know Christ as their Saviour, to make his name known throughout the world.

Many people have heard this message and their lives have been transformed. They have come to know the Lord, they have realised that it is only in co-operating with God’s plan for themselves and for the world that they can find salvation and true fulfilment in life. They have turned away from sin and the neglect of their spiritual lives and have become ‘new people’.

Everyone worshiping in this Church today falls into this category, that’s why we find ourselves gathered around the Table of the Lord to break bread in his name.

But there are others among us who have not only heard and acted on this message but who have seen something worth imitating in the life of the prophet. We have head the message, certainly; but we have also become entranced by the singer of the song.

We have realised that we too have a vocation, that we too are being called by God to serve him in a special capacity in the world. On reading or hearing about Father Jordan we have found something within us that was particularly attracted by his ideals; indeed we woke up from our everyday existence and found ourselves inspired to join his Society.

That’s exactly what happened to me and to the very many other Salvatorians religious or lay.

I have had the great privilege of travelling very widely on behalf of the Order and have visited other Salvatorians in at least twenty different countries. Whatever the language, whatever the colour, whatever the culture, there is an instant rapport between Salvatorians the world over. It is something truly extraordinary and a real testimony to the authenticity of Father Jordan’s vision.

When I was the General Secretary I was involved to a degree in the promotion of Father Jordan’s Cause for Beatification. Although it is a long time since his death in 1918 interest in Father Jordan has never been stronger and the process for Beatification is rapidly moving ahead –at least as rapidly as anything ever can move in Rome!

You will see the picture of Father Jordan in the display here on the sanctuary together with a globe of the world. In original photos taken during his lifetime he is often to be seen with a similar globe to signify his worldwide vision. He was a German by birth and an Italian by adoption but his real status was as a citizen of the world.

Or rather not so much a citizen of the world as a prophet to the world since he saw his commission, as did the first Apostles, in terms of the great mandate given by Christ to them before his Ascension.

It is recorded in the Gospel of St Matthew: ‘Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise then in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And know that I am with you always; yes, even to the end of time.’

In his lifetime Jordan did all he could to make this mandate a reality and under his inspiration 125 years later there are five thousand Salvatorians throughout the world trying to do likewise. This is testimony if any were needed to the breadth of his vision, the depth of his holiness and the extraordinary urgency with which he strove to do God’s will.

I am certainly proud to be a Salvatorian and I know that many of you are very happy to be in a parish staffed by them. Long may this continue!