OUR SUNDAY’S IN JANUARY 2010

January is a busy month! We have the Feast of Mary, Mother of God; and the World Day of Prayer for Peace. The season of Epiphany begins; then the Baptism of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The season of Epiphany tells us that we should work to reclaim a sense of who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus has done for us – we need to reconnect with the sacredness of God and the true meaning of love.

One of the first Saints that I became familiar with was St. John Bosco. When I was but an aspirant for Holy Orders, I spent a long weekend retreat at the John Bosco Retreat Center in Haverstraw, New York. It is said that St. John Bosco said that “instruction is but an accessory, like a game; knowledge never makes a man because it does not directly touch the heart. It gives more power in the exercise of good or evil; but alone it is an indifferent weapon, wanting guidance.” Love is what guides our knowledge.

The life of John Bosco can give us a perspective today – his life was a life of love.

Early in his priesthood, Father John Bosco accompanied his pastor to a prison. In the prison were street children. Don Bosco found this abhorrent so he started to bring children in off the streets – into his Church and by 1842 there were 20 boys in what Don Bosco called the “Oratory”. People did not take kindly to this – these children were viewed as trouble makers, but the effects of John Bosco’s persistence and the efforts of his love for children won many converts to his cause. By the time of his death in 1888 there were 250 houses belonging to what is now known as the “Salesian Society” which at that time housed 130,000 children. His schools graduated 18,000 children annually.

Too many people state that “one person cannot make a difference”. There are so many lives that say differently. Don Bosco is one of them; Jeremiah was another such life, as was Paul’s, as was Luke’s. All were individuals who, driven by their love for God, changed lives and the world. No one started out life any different than any one of us.

Paul writes of his motivation, the motivation of all individuals who become world changers: love, Paul lists the great spiritual values – tongues, prophecy, faith, knowledge, service – but acknowledges that without love, these virtues cannot make a difference. This love is not a feeling, it is the choice to serve God regardless of the personal cost. This is the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. This is the love that makes a difference.

The Most Rev. John P. Walzer, D.D.
Archbishop