Saint John Bosco
Phil 4: 4-9
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Reflecting On God’s Invitation
Oftentimes, people think of discernment as concentrating one’s thoughts and prayer on a particular choice that needs to be made. This is definitely a major part of discernment, but we need to keep in mind that it is in the context of recognizing and living out of the insights and graces that God has already bestowed that his will is discerned.
Today’s saint, John Bosco, does exactly this, and so is able to discern and carry out God’s will in his life with great efficaciousness. As a 9-year-old boy, John has a dream about a group of boys taking together and cursing. He becomes angry and is ready to threaten them when Jesus appears and tells John to conquer their hearts with charity rather than violence, and to teach them virtuous ways of living. Interestingly, John responds to this directive by studying the shows of entertainers who performed juggling, magic tricks, and acrobatics. He then imitated them for boys while mixing in prayers with these activities. Many years later after he was ordained a priest, he visited prisons and saw how many of the teenage adolescent boys were repeat offenders. John became a mentor to many boys transitioning out of prison within the context of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, of which he was one of the co-founders.
St. John Bosco’s early insights allowed him to strike out on a path that led him to the life-long work that was the will of God for him. What foundational insights and graces has God granted you? Are there any that you sense God is calling you to take-up and live out of in a more robust fashion?
—Timothy Perron, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic of the Midwest Province studying theology at Fordham University.
Prayer
Saint John, your heart was a merciful one, and it was touched by the plight of many suffering boys living in poverty and imprisonment. You loved them with the heart of Christ and brought them hope. Please pray for me that I may see Christ in all people, never condemning or judging, but working to build them up as a loving minister of God’s compassionate heart. Saint John Bosco, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.