"When... stubbornness takes hold of one’s mind, how can sanctity ever flourish? Where humble obedience reigns, grace will triumph."- Don BoscoSt. John Bosco is one of those saints that attracts the attention of young boys and girls. What I find most appealing about him is how his life is like that of many young people today. Actually, we can be talking about the very same issues St. John Bosco saw and wrote about within the faces of our own youth today.
His approach was cleverly constructed by God...being able to touch and relate to a young boy for instance takes a gift. Obviously St. John Bosco was charismatic, playful, intelligent but he used those gifts, bestowed by God to reach a section of our population so easily dismissed. He believed that showing love to the boys in his care would be enough to touch their souls. That giving a combination of knowledge, play, and guidance could, by the grace of God, turn a lost youth around. He taught by religion, reason and kindness!
I spent quite a few years with the youth just like Father John's. They were/are the abandoned and forgotten juveniles of the state system, either under the direct care of the foster care program or the probation system. My focus was working with the girls more so than the boys. These girls always tried to be so strong during the day, very tough to deal with. But, at night all those walls came crumbling down.
They would often cry themselves to sleep, that is when they slept. But what I found during these nightly episodes was that they craved protection and guidance. They wanted discipline and structure. They yearned for knowledge, I mean they fought against it at first, but once the wall came down a bit they were wide eyed and enthusiastic for truth. I wish I would have known more about St. John Bosco then, asking for his intercessions for these children. Because they were children. Perhaps a bit damaged, but they were created by God just as I was and my children.
And St. John Bosco knew that too.
I'm no longer in that particular field, I do miss it, but I was given another job. To raise my own children; giving them the same education, direction, and love that St. John Bosco is remembered for. I think of the kids I met and the many I got to know so well. I pray for them. Today, I'll be asking for St. John Bosco's intersessions for them too.
(Father John Bosco hearing the confessions of his boys)
I hope you all have (are having) a wonderful Monday!
Sites worth a click:
"it is interesting to observe how St. John Bosco was always aware of the problems of his times. He was not a saint living in the clouds, as sentimental hagiographies depict many saints. St. John Bosco knew the problems of his time and combated the enemies of the Church as they actually were."
~ source here
A post worth reading by Annie of Under Her Starry Mantle
A biography of St. John Bosco here at ETWN and here
A recipe for tea here with Charlotte
A dinner plan: Catholic Cuisine
and a movie St. John Bosco: Mission to Love
A prayer for my girls...where ever they may be now and for all the youth we know
O glorious Saint John Bosco,
who in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master
and to mould them in the light of faith
and Christian morality didst heroically sacrifice thyself
to the very end of thy life
and didst set up a proper religious Institute destined to endure
and to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work,
obtain also for us from Our Lord a holy love for young people
who are exposed to so many seductions
in order that we may generously spend ourselves in supporting them
against the snares of the devil,
in keeping them safe from the dangers of the world,
and in guiding them,
pure and holy,
in the path that leads to God.
Amen.
