Looking at how both of these saints ‘live Jesus,’ we can conclude that Jesus gentle and humble of heart lives and loves through them. They become a new humanity where Jesus can re-live his mystery. The hope is that through exploring something of this mystery, we might learn to respond to the mystery of God.
We live in the age of the Spirit where the Risen Lord continues to be present with us and through us. In particular, it is the Matthean Jesus, meek and humble of heart (Mt.11:29) who lives in the lives of our two saints and whom we are called to imitate. It is this gentleness and loving kindness that is the hallmark of the Salesian charism because ‘the Spirit of God is the spirit of gentleness.’ The author explores in depth these double attributes of Salesian gentleness and loving kindness. As the study unfolds, it becomes evident that St Francis de Sales provides us with a theological and spiritual backdrop that helps us to make sense of Don Bosco’s ecstasy of action. Behind every spirituality, there is an operative image of God. In Salesian spirituality, the immense activity of both of our saints reflects the passion of God who is intimately and actively involved with all of creation. We are called, like them, to share in God’s mission in our world.
However, it also becomes clear that such immense activity emerges from hearts that are on fire with the love of God. Love brings us out of ourselves in order to become a gift to God an others. This love is expressed affectively through prayer and effectively through service. It is by maintaining this Salesian balance of prayer and service that we learn ‘to belong to God in the midst of so much busyness.’ Swept up in God’s desire to save everyone, our two saints live this divine urgency for salvation. This theme of salvation becomes the hinge of the book where we are invited to re-visit the meaning of salvation for the young, and indeed for our world, today.
The book operates at different levels:
1) Its initial goal is to trace the direct and indirect influences of St Francis de Sales on St John Bosco;
2) It proceeds, then, to explore the spirituality affinity between the two saints which consists in their living Jesus;
3) Although each of them lives Jesus in their own way, nevertheless, there is a bond of the Spirit which attests to a particularly Salesian way of living the Gospel. This brings us to the final goal of the book: Reflecting on their docility and fidelity to the Holy Spirit, challenges us to examine our own lives and ask: “How are we being called to live the Gospel in a Salesian way so that Jesus may live in us?”
The book contains 367 pages and may be acquired by sending an email to Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.
