Feast of Saint John Bosco

Today is the Feast day of Saint John Bosco, patron of all kids, troubled kids, abandoned kids, jugglers, illusionists, teachers, education and prisoners.

I had never heard of him until I caught part of a movie about his amazing life. He grew up in the late 1800s, poor and without a father. When he became a Father by priestly ordination, he pitied the dozens of homeless boys he encountered on the streets and in the prisons of Turin. He wanted to become a father to them in the parental sense as well as the ministerial.

So, he adopted them — dozens and dozens of them. He gained their trust by juggling and doing funny tricks. He taught them catechism. He taught them work skills. He housed them by begging for space and fed them by miraculous multiplications of food.

And He loved them. He knew no one could understand the love of a Heavenly Father until they understood the love of an earthly one. His dedication to the boys’ formation and commitment to each one as a unique and beloved soul was to be a sign of the Heavenly Father’s dedication and commitment.

At the time I learned of him, I was also ministering to children and I admit that my style is less as a strict disciplinarian and more funny. I love jokes and puppets and stories and dance parties. He fit so many of the places of my heart for ministry.

But he also fits the places of my heart for a personal relationship with God and Heaven: devoted to the Blessed Sacrament, frequent confession, His Guardian Angel and Holy Mother. He was a devoted wearer of the Brown Scapular.

I am grateful to this saint who has given me so many signs that he has adopted me too. I pray you will accept him as one who will love you as a sign of the Father’s love. Through his intercession today, I pray for us as kids, our kids and the kids of the world.

Saint John Bosco, pray for us!

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Oh holy patron of the youth, I come to you with sincere confidence in your closeness to Jesus. Saint John Bosco, I need your help, I need your prayers, I need your intercession to God for His grace to help me with…

(state your intentions here)

With your love of Mary, our Mother, pray for me!

With your love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, pray for me!

With your love for all those who suffer, pray for me!

Don Bosco, please pray fervently for the grace that I now ask from God our Father. In addition, please pray that I may have a sincere acceptance of the Will of God and a perfect trust in Him.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…