Friday, January 31, 2003 - Memorial of John Bosco

In today’s first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, the author is reminding us that the Hebrews had to endure a great contest of suffering. And he says at times that they were publicly exposed to abuse and affliction, and at other times they associated themselves with those who were mistreated. “Do not throw away your confidence and you’ll have great recompense.” He’s reminding the Hebrews that it’s been difficult for them at times to uphold their faith … not only difficult for them as Jews, but also difficult for those who converted to Christianity. 

The author is reminding them that this is the way we live by faith. We expect that there will be difficulties in life, but we accept them as the opportunity to give glory to God and to stand firm with confidence in God. You need endurance to do the will of God and receive  His promises.  “Be another one of those who draw back and perished.”  Sometimes in our lives, we come against choices that are very difficult, and our first reaction is to give up, to run away, or maybe to fight, to get challenged or get angry.  And we have to recognize that as followers of Christ, neither of those ways are the best.  The best course of action in many cases is to exercise our faith and pray for that particular situation to be resolved, to think carefully what we must do to bring about a change. It’s very hard because our first reactions often lead us in the wrong direction. 

Today we celebrate the memorial of John Bosco.  He founded the Salesians, named  after St. Francis de Sales whose feast we celebrated a few days ago.  Francis lived many years before John Bosco.  In a letter he wrote to his followers, John Bosco tells them how to educate the young, but his words really apply to everyone because we are in some way or another educating people in the faith and in life issues, whether it is our own children (who can give us a very hard time) or our peers.  Jesus put up with people’s ignorance and even their infidelity.  He treated sinners with such kindness and affection that it caused others to be shocked or scandalized. It caused still others to hope for God’s mercy, and so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.  There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insults on our lips.  We must use mercy for the present, and have hope for the future.  Then he closes this section and says in serious matters, it is better to beg God humbly for a sinner’s forgiveness than to assault him with words that will only offend the listener and have no effect on the guilty.

Sometimes in our prayer we recognize that if we are going to become angry and use strong words, we will have no good effect on the other person,  and so the logical way to do is to beg God humbly, wait, keep silent, and recognize that our prayer may seem ineffective, but that it really does build up the kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is as it was described in today’s parable: a man throws seed on the ground, he sleeps night and day, and the seeds sprout and grow. He knows not how. Sometimes that’s all we can do: plant the seeds, say a prayer, make a very simple comment, rather than get into an elaborate explanation or defense or argument, and wait. You’ll be surprised that the seeds will eventually bear fruit.  And this is the way the kingdom of heaven operates.

In another parable, the kingdom of heaven is compared to a mustard seed.  When it is sown on the ground, the smallest seed of all the seeds on the earth,  it springs up and becomes the largest plant and puts forth large branches.  Sometimes that moment of biding our time, not saying what is really on our mind, controlling our tongue, even controlling our thoughts, can yield greater fruit than venting our anger. It seems like an ineffectual way to change people or to change a situation and yet it’s probably the best. The seed you plant that seems so small ends up becoming a great plant, a great bush that puts forth large branches.  That’s the way the Church has developed through the centuries.  When we look at Christ himself, all he did during his earthly life was to plant seeds.  And then, over the centuries, the church has grown from a mustard seed planted by Christ into a tremendous church that gives comfort to many people throughout the world. We are part of that Church. 

Let’s ask St. John Bosco to help us, through his intercession, to have that kind of gentleness and humility of heart to help the people around us, to be able to win their souls. We also go to the Blessed Virgin Mary who teaches us this way of peace and gentleness in reaching out to souls around us. 

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