Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest
Scripture Readings
Today's saint, John Bosco, worked with poor and outcast youth in the 19th century. Reading some of the accounts of his life, I'm struck by how similar some of his concerns were in comparison to our own these days when it comes to disadvantaged youth, as well as how often working with youth is not seen in very positive tones. Youth often get dismissed in our culture because we see teenage years as years of rebellion. Youth also have the disadvantage of not yet having or making much money or other such contributions to society. And very unfortunately, youth still face some of the same concerns that youth in the nineteenth century did: they are trafficked for slavery, even here in the US. And youth continue to face job insecurity, both now and in future potential work, and mistreatment at the hands of employers.
Bosco saw that it was precisely youth, however, who needed care and concern, because they were so often unnoticed. He advocated for them in relation to their employers, making sure they were getting just wages, holidays and weren't being mistreated. Bosco received death threats for his concern for youth, and his perceived meddling in economic and political affairs of adults.
One of the difficulties in being present to youth - whether as parents, or teachers, or coaches, or ministers, or employers - is that our work with them is very short term. Soon they're moving on and out of state or country to attend college, find a job, start a family. Or in sadder situations like the ones Bosco encountered: they move to jail or detention and spiral downward with addictions. Yet Bosco refused to be discouraged and chose instead to love all those he met.
Today's scriptures remind us of the importance of paying attention to those - like youth - who often get overlooked, and where our work may not seem as much noticed. In some cases, it can be difficult to think that anything good might happen. Yet we should never underestimate the strength of even the smallest of actions, and the fact that every person is always on the edge of potential conversion to God.
Consider the first passage (1 Samuel 1:1-4a; 5-10a; 13-17). This is the story of David and Bathsheba. We've seen David in other passages, the mighty (and much-revered) king of Israel. In those other stories he is usually portrayed as good, but as today's scriptures show, no one is ALL good. He desires a friend's wife sexually, but ends up making her pregnant. As often happens in these kind of situations, it turns out that the husband has not actually had relations with his wife, so the pregnancy will be clearly adulterous. But rather than figure out some way to confess the whole thing, David tries to get his friend home suddenly. When that doesn't work, David deliberately puts his friend on the front line, and Uriah gets killed. He might not have actually shot the man himself, but he's clearly complicit in his friend's killing.
It's a terrible story, but it's a story that should remind us of a couple of important things about ourselves. First, we are never as good as we think we are. In David's case, did things start innocently but then progress to such a bad point? But second, we're never as bad as we think we are either. There are no hopeless cases. God continues to be with David, to use him to guide the Kingdom of Israel in spite of everything.
In today's gospel reading (Mark 4:26-34), Jesus talks about seeds. They start very small, but grow very large. Our work with those who are often unnoticed takes on similar patterns. Saint John Bosco reminds us to have faith and to love and care for all those who go unnoticed in our society - and he asks us especially today to think of the youth in our lives.
- Jana M. Bennett