Don Bosco and Loving Kindness

Today we celebrate the feast of St John Bosco (Don Bosco) a spiritual master of work with the young and a saint in the heart centered tradition of St Francis de Sales. In 19th Century industrial Turin he disarmed troubled youth with kindness. He did not give up on the young even when they had given up on themselves. He teased goodness out of them, uncovered their gifts and turned them to God and to good citizenship.

His main tool was relentless kindness backed with consistent and reasonable discipline but above all with a deep optimism in the goodness of people. It was that belief, nurtured by loving kindness that brought young people to life. For the adult, loving kindness was an act of faith and also a source of sacrifice that gave meaning and took them into the mystery of cross and resurrection and into the very life of God.

But the same dynamic of loving kindness and optimism is potentially at work in all our relationships and in family life. Loving kindness builds circles of trust that heal and harvest the goodness of others for a better world.