Friday of
the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint
John Bosco
January 31, 2014 8:30am
Today, as I said at the beginning
of Mass, we remember Saint John Bosco.
John Bosco devoted himself to
reaching out to youth, especially street youth who were very inclined to
getting into trouble.
John Bosco was known for his
patience with them.
He disliked negative discipline
and his motto was: “Not with blows, but
with charity and gentleness must you draw these friends to the path of virtue.”
John Bosco used this approach in
providing a safe home at first for six boys.
He provided a structure that
included prayer, work, and recreation.
He provided training that led
them to useful occupations as janitors, printers, shoemakers and things like
that.
The six boys that he cared for
grew to 800 and this growth led him to found the Salesian Order.
Today there are 34,000 Salesians
working in 130 countries, ministering to children and youth and others.
In today’s gospel, Jesus compares
the kingdom of God to seed that a farmer plants.
The farmer then trusts that God
will see to its growth and it sprouts and yields a good harvest.
Jesus then compares the kingdom
to a tiny mustard seed that grows to be a large bush or shrub, large enough to
house birds and their nests.
Saint John Bosco seemed to have
this approach.
He provided a safe place for
youth and gave them and God working with them time to grow and mature.
Today we might ask: who in our
lives needs time to grow and develop and mature?
Who in our lives do we need to
entrust to God’s care to see to their good development?
What difference might it make to
others in our lives if we proceeded with patience and charity and gentleness?
Do we need to separate the sinner
from the sin and act in a way that demonstrates this?
This seems to be the way to
imitate the example of Saint John Bosco and respond to the images in today’s
gospel.
