Perhaps an educator has to be a bit mad, passionate and perplexed, a performer of sorts, someone in whose mouth you might find the words: “For you I live, for you I work, for you I study, for you I would even give my life.”

Today is the feast of Don Bosco, the saint who utilised these words. Father and friend of the young, he was fearless and self-sacrificing when it came to their education, especially those with little chance of success. In the Turin of mid-nineteenth century, he lit a fire of hope on behalf of those who were homeless and unemployed.

His dream was to see them grow up to become “good Christians and honest citizens”. To this end, he founded an educational family within which young people would feel respected, nurtured and inspired. Gentleness and understanding should characterise it.

A first encounter with the Salesians as boys on a summer camp and kids in the school directed some of us towards the ideals of this great man: His reliance on being always reasonable; his conviction about the central place of loving kindness in education; his belief that only an experience of God can satisfy a person’s heart. His magic is still alive and active around us and today’s youth are no less in need of care and guidance than they were in yesteryears.

As a child, the young Giovanni Bosco was the acrobat who wanted to share his gifts with his friends and to show off. As an adult and even long after his death, he was the one who would lead them and spark a thousand initiatives in their favour. All over the world, thousands, like us, now follow in his footsteps, taking a chance on the young and believing in youth’s innate potential.

Hugh O’Donnell and Antoine Farrugia

Salesians of Don Bosco