Holiness Model of Don Bosco – a Spirituality of everyday Living
Simple things in life are often
the most difficult to talk about. Like the ordinary experience of a couple
together for 50years, or a simple conversation with someone you like.
Similarly, when we speak of spirituality we understand that it’s a means
through which God becomes meaningful to us. It is the art of linking the things
of heaven with those on earth. Spirituality as a path to heaven has to take
into account the path that we walk here on earth. Spirituality would therefore
mean having a sense of God, or a realization that reality is a mystery.
In Don
Bosco we see a man of God, who remained intensely human, in him we see a divine
presence that penetrated all his human works. The model of Don Bosco is a
tangible spirituality, not one that can be touched, but one that is lived. Don
Bosco’s sanctity was not outside the world, but from within the world. The
holiness model of Don Bosco is based on the three important pillars of his
life, namely Spirit of prayer, Work and Temperance, and finally Union with God.
Spirit
of prayer
Prayer
is not only a verbal utterance of words, but more so it is a way of life, a
synchronizing of the body, mind and spirit in Jesus. When we say we imitate Don
Bosco in prayer, we particularly stress on his spirit of prayer. He prayed at
all moments, whether during recreations, journeys and even during free moments.
Don Bosco who could do so much for the young teaches us that in our work for
and with the young prayer becomes the starting point and the thread that
sustains each other.
He
teaches us that our prayer needs to be:
·
Simple: heart to heart = in calling God
as a Father
·
Lively: with an interior joyful and
creativity
·
Authentic: spontaneously urging us to live
sincere lives
Work
and Temperance
For Don
Bosco work was a means to one’s sanctification. Working always for the coming
of the Kingdom, in other words for souls. With a spirit of prayer, Don Bosco
calls us to imitate him in turning our work into prayer. Not so much in
replacing work for prayer but work done in love and with charity.
Don
Bosco would say, ‘Work and temperance will make the congregation flourish’. By
temperance he meant self control and the training of the heart. It is the
moderation of one’s inclinations and passions.
The
practice of work and temperance brings about a Union with God.
Union
with God
We must
understand that there is a divine dimension of Salesian work, the feeling of
the need for God in all his works. And therefore activity is seen here as a
means of sanctification. This calls for a training of our hearts and minds to a
new tune. A conscious tune that makes us realize that we are in
relationship with God at every moment
of our life.
The
only secret Don Bosco shares with his sons as a spirituality of everyday living
is to fix one’s heart and mind on God.
-By Cl. Joyston Machado SDB
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