Tuesday, October 1 : St John Bosco

It is easier to get angry than to bear quietly, to threaten the child than to persuade him; I would even say that our impatience and our pride are better to impose punishment on recalcitrants rather than correcting them firmly and supporting them gently. Yet it is the charity of Paul that I recommend to you, the charity he had for the fresh converts , he who went to tears and supplication when he didn’t find them docile to his love or even inaccessible. Be careful not to act by impulse. By punishing it is difficult to maintain this equality of soul which is necessary so that we do not believe that we act to display power or to give free rein to our feelings. Let’s look at [the boys in our care] as sons on which we have a power to train. Let us become their servants, exactly like Jesus, who came to obey and not to command; Do not be ashamed to dominate in Christ’s way, and only dominate them to better serve them. This is what Jesus did with the apostles, who were ignorant and coarse; Much more, he bore with them when they were not faithful enough, and he showed a goodness and a friendship comfortable with sinners, so that some were amazed, others scandalized, and others finally, came to hope for the forgiveness of God. This is why he ordered us to be gentle and humble at heart.

Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team