Saint John Bosco

John Bosco was born on August 16, 1815, to a poor

farming family in Becchi, a small suburb of Turin,

Italy. The child grew to be the "Beloved Apostle of

Youth". One of John Bosco's earliest recollections

occurred at age two. He remembers his mother telling

him upon his father's death , "You have no father

now". Although he stated that he could not remember

what his father was like , his death must have had a

profound effect on him and perhaps sparked his desire

to help troubled boys, many of whom were fatherless.

I cannot say that I have suffered the loss of a close

family member and can only imagine the effect it could

have on my life.

From the time he was a young child, John Bosco seemed

to have a clear understanding of God's ways; and what

he didn't understand was often made clear to him by

his mother "Mama Margaret". She seemed to know, even

at an early age, that her son was destined to do good

in the name of God. She taught him by example from an

early age and continued to support him and all his

good works throughout his life. She eventually joined

him at he Oratory and became "Mother" to hundreds of

boys. Her positive influence was felt by all of those

boys. It was almost as if the Blessed Mother worked

through her good example and words of wisdom.

Mama Margaret warned her son to "beware of bad boys

you may meet on your journey through life". and asked

him one day, "Why do you go with such bad boys?"

How many mothers have echoed similar words? How

confident John Bosco was in the power of his good

example when he replied, "If I am with them they are

better and do not say bad words". Wouldn't this world

be a better place if we all had such confidence and

faith in the power our own good example.

As a young child, John Bosco had the ability to

attract young boys. He went out of his way to study

"traveling show" folk to learn acrobatic and sleight

of hand tricks to entertain the boys who would gather

around him. After a performance he would discuss a

sermon from a recent Mass or lead the group in a hymn.

If people started to leave he would tell them that

they couldn't come back and see more tricks unless

they stayed for the sermon. Of course they remained.

At age nine John had a dream that clearly indicated

his intentions of becoming a priest. Mama Margaret

understood this dream and set out to educate her son

and prepare him for First Holy Communion. John had a

special ability to understand and memorize the

priests' sermons. He happened to impress one priest

with his retelling of the sermon. This priest

arranged for the beginning of John's education for the

priesthood. His older stepbrother, Anthony, was

jealous of him and often begrudged him his studies by

insisting that he help work on the farm. Even Anthony

could not keep him from his studies. Priests arranged

for him to be taught while he worked at the farm. In

life we may encounter people who may be jealous of us

and try to stop us from succeeding.

Throughout the course of his religious education John

came in contact with many different people and

different work experiences that helped prepare him for

his future work. Living away from home for the first

time ,he explained the way that he best learned to

deal with his new "companions". He divided them into

three classes; the good, the indifferent, and the bad.

He avoided the bad as soon as their character was

discovered; he was courteous to the indifferent and

dealt with them only when necessary. He was

determined to make friends with the good. This is

probably the best advice that John Bosco has to offer

young boys. Although he said that he avoided the

"bad", I have a feeling that he did not give up on

them too easily.

John Bosco continued to have a knack for being able to

enter the boys' world throughout his life. After

being ordained a priest he continued his "boy work".

Little by little over the years his Oratories

multiplied