NOVENA IN HONOR OF SAINT JOHN BOSCO

HOLINESS FOR YOU TOO

reflections from Salesian Rector Major Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime’s commentary

on the 2019 Strenna

Introduction:
Reasons for the 2019 Strenna:

Don Rua declared, “This is what our beloved Don Bosco taught us in the first article of the Holy Rule, where it says that the object of our Pious Society is, first, the Christian perfection of its members, and then various works of charity, both spiritual and temporal, on behalf of the young.” Without that the whole apostolic endeavor on behalf of youth would prove sterile. Don Bosco knows perfectly well that the first, most radical, and decisive way to help others is to be saints.

“Holiness is the greatest gift that we can offer to the young.”

“We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by laboring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain.”

(Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate, 14)

Day 1 (January 22): Living everyday life as the place to meet God

The heart of the Salesian spirit can be identified by the fact that it thinks of life in a positive way and sees it day by day as the place where we meet God. Relationships, work, joy, relaxation, family life, the development of one’s personal capabilities, giving, service, etc., are all lived in the light of God. This is expressed in simple, practical terms in that very Salesian conviction that comes from Don Bosco himself: to be a saint you have to do well what you have to do.

It is the proposal of the holiness of everyday life. Don Bosco found holiness with the simplicity of joy, with the exact fulfilment of one’s duties, and with a life lived all for the love of God. In this way, he created with his boys at Valdocco a real school of holiness.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Pray for us the grace of holiness, so that guided by Mary Help of Christians, and living the spirit of the Beatitudes in our daily life, we may all meet to enjoy together eternal happiness with God.

Amen.

Day 2 (January 23): Being individuals and communities of prayer

The path of holiness is not possible without cultivating depth in our lives, without a genuine faith, and without prayer as the expression of this faith. Pope Francis declares: “I do not believe in holiness without prayer” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 147). And in fact all of this is impossible without intimacy with the Lord Jesus: prayer of thanksgiving, the expression of our gratitude to the transcendent God; prayer of supplication, the expression of a heart that trusts in God; prayer of intercession, the expression of fraternal love; prayer of adoration, the expression of our recognition of God’s transcendence; prayer of meditation on the Word, the expression of a docile and obedient heart; Eucharistic prayer, the summit and source of the path to holiness.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 3 (January 24): Developing in our lives the fruits of the Holy Spirit:

Let love, charity, joy, peace, patience, benevolence, goodness, fidelity, mildness, faith, rule over oneself, etc. Holiness is not quarrelling, arguing, envy, division, haste. “Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 34).

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 4 (January 25): Practicing the virtues

Holiness is not only rejecting evil and pursuing good, but being passionate for good, doing good things well, everything that is good: prayer and action in the world, service and self-giving, and also times for silence, family life and a sense of responsibility at work. “Everything can be accepted and integrated into our life in this world, and become a part of our path to holiness. We are called to be contemplatives even in the midst of action, and to grow in holiness by responsibly and generously carrying out our proper mission” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 26).

So then, following the Gospel in joyful and constant practice of virtue will truly be a simple way of holiness.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 5 (January 26): Bearing witness to communion

The path of holiness is followed together, and the road to holiness is one lived in community and pursued together. The saints are always together, a company. Where there is one of them, others will always be found. Everyday holiness makes communion flourish and fosters “relationships.” We become saints together. It is not possible to be saints alone, and God does not save us alone: “no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 6). Holiness is nourished by relationships, by familiarity, by communion because Christian spirituality is essentially communal, ecclesial, profoundly different, and very far from a vision of holiness that is elitist or heroic.

On the contrary, there is no Christian holiness where communion with others is forgotten, where one forgets to seek and to look at the face of the other, where one forgets fraternity and the revolution of tenderness.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 6 (January 27): Understanding that everyone’s life is a mission

Pope Francis clearly asks that the whole of one’s life be understood as a mission. Sometimes, in difficult moments, people ask what is the purpose of their lives, the point of living, the reason for their being in the world, what personal contribution could they make. In all these cases the question being asked is: what is my mission? And in the light of all this, one discovers that “a Christian cannot think of his or her mission on earth without seeing it as a path of holiness” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 19), always giving the best of oneself in this commitment.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 7 (January 28): Seeking the simplicity of the Beatitudes

In teaching the Beatitudes, Jesus offered us a real path to holiness. “The Beatitudes are like a Christian’s identity card” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 63).

In them a way of life is proposed to us which includes processes that go from poverty of heart, which also means austerity of life, to reacting with humble meekness in a world where quarrels easily arise over the slightest thing; from the courage of allowing ourselves to be “pierced” by other peoples’ sorrow and show them compassion, to seeking justice with a true hunger and thirst, while others share out the spoils obtained by means of injustice, corruption, and the abuse of power.

The Beatitudes lead the Christian to look and to act with mercy, which means helping others and also forgiving them; they encourage him or her to keep a heart that is pure and free from all that taints love for God and neighbor. The proposal of Jesus asks us to sow seeds of peace and justice and build bridges between people. It also asks us to accept the lack of understanding, deceitfulness in those who deal with us, and finally all persecutions, even the subtlest ones that exist today.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 8 (January 29): Growing through small gestures (Gaudete et Exsultate, 16).

This is another simple indicator, practical and within everyone’s reach. God calls us to holiness through small gestures, through simple things, which we undoubtedly discover in other people and reproduce in ourselves in everyday life; encouraged also by the fact that the path of holiness is neither unique nor the same for everyone.

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Day 9 (January 30): Everything, except refusing to fly when we were born for the heights!

There are so many small steps that can help us make the journey of holiness, this simple holiness, anonymous but shaping our lives in a beautiful way. Everything can help us; everything except refusing to fly when we have been born for the heights! Because we are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved” (Colossians 3:12).

This concerns the way of Christian growth toward holiness: “We are not be afraid to aim high, toward the heights of God; we are not afraid that God will ask too much of us” (Pope Benedict XVI).

Prayer to St. John Bosco

(adapted from the prayer used for the bicentenary of his birth)

Saint John Bosco, help us to understand as you did that only in Jesus and in his Gospel can we find true meaning and happiness in our lives;

help us to respond generously to God’s invitation to holiness, so that like you, we may help build here on earth a true civilization of love;

help us to be like you, signs and bearers of God’s special love for the young and the needy.

Amen.

Atlanta Salesian Cooperators