FRIENDS and SERVANTS of the WORD
25 MAY 2024 SATURDAY 7 ORDINARY TIME
WORD of the DAY
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them. (Mark 10: 13-16)
How shall I live this Word? 
This gospel touches the fibers of a fully human, Christian, and Salesian heart. How to prevent a child from approaching Jesus? How to rebuke him/her for this? If our mission is precisely to guide young people to Jesus and not only make our heart like that of a child, to enter the kingdom of heaven. However, it is an opportunity to ask forgiveness for the facts that in the times, in the Church and outside, her children have not been respected, have not been valued, and have been used, have been abused. We humbly ask forgiveness and invoke mercy and healing. We hope to be able to have the experience on this day of bringing children to Jesus, welcoming and blessing them, being a sign of God’s love for them. Woe to us if we are a stumbling block, a cause of scandal, for a child, for a young person. We can only bless them. May the Lord help us to welcome the gift of life, that no child is aborted, rejected, and abandoned. Children, young people, are God’s blessing for the world.
The voice of Saint John Bosco Letter from Rome 1884
You have to use great kindness with young people, treat them well. May this sudden goodness and loving-kindness be a character to all superiors, none excepted. Oh! how fond young man is when he sees himself well treated! He puts his heart in the hands of his superiors. XII,88. Familiarity brings affection and the effect brings confidence. XVII,108. That is, it opens hearts and young people show everything without fear to teachers, assistants, and superiors. He will say of those who hurt his boys: “If it were not a sin, I would choke them with my hands”. “Familiarity with young people especially in recreation. Without familiarity love is not shown and without this demonstration there can be no confidence. Who wants to be loved must show that he loves. Jesus Christ made Himself small with the little ones and carried our infirmities. Here is the teacher of familiarity. The teacher seen only in the chair is a teacher and no longer, but if he goes to recreation with the young, he becomes like a brother. If one is seen only preaching from the pulpit one will say that he does neither more nor less than his duty, but if he says a word in recreation, it is the word of one who loves. How many conversions did not cause some of his words to suddenly resound in the ear of a young man while he was having fun. Those who know they are loved love and those who are loved get everything especially from young people. This confidence puts an electric current between the young and the Superiors. Hearts open and make known their needs and reveal their defects. This love makes the Superior endure the labors, the boredom, the ingratitude, the troubles, the deficiencies, the negligence of the young people. Jesus Christ did not break the already-made reed, nor did He extinguish the smoldering wick. Here is your model.”
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Living Scripture 
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