Today, as we end January, we celebrate the Memorial of St. John Bosco a 19th Century Catholic priest and founder of the Salesian Order in our Church. St. John Bosco had a great love of the faith, in teaching children the faith and helping them to grow as productive members of society living their Christian values and fulfilling their roles as holy men and women. (some links are given below)
This week we have been celebrating Catholic Schools Week as a parish, diocese and Church throughout the United States. As many of you may already know, I taught in Catholic Schools for 8 years before entering the seminary to study: 2 years at Blessed (now Saint) Kateri Tekakwitha Academy in Thoreau New Mexico and then for 6 years at St. Lawrence the Martyr School in Santa Clara. These experiences helped to form me as a man and certainly prepared me for God calling me to the vocation as a priest. One of my greatest lesson, from the years of teaching is this: while the education in a Catholic School is wonderful, helpful and forms the student in a positive way, the first and foremost teachers of the faith remain the parents.
This is one of the major reasons why we shared the book “A Parent Who Prays” with our families last September and why we continue to encourage all families to spend time daily in prayer for the growth of holiness and faithfulness in the lives of our families.
Pope St. John Paul II shared these thoughts from Familiaris Consortio (The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World), “Family prayer has its own characteristic qualities. It is prayer offered in common, husband and wife together, parents and children together…by reason of their dignity and mission, Christian parents have the specific responsibility of educating their children in prayer, introducing them to gradual discovery of the mystery of God and to personal dialogue with Him…”(#59-60).
How does this “gradual discovery of the mystery of God” take place? In the Aleteia article on St. John Bosco the first key they pointed out was to“Transform children into “honest citizens and good Christians.” This is a good starting point. A couple of weeks ago our virtue for “A Parent Who Prays” was “to keep holy the Sabbath.” With Super Bowl Sunday here we might ask that question of ourselves and of our family: are we keeping Super Bowl Sunday holy?
It is a reminder to us all how the teaching of the faith doesn’t just occur in church, in school and/or catechism, in our moments of prayer throughout the day, but it occurs most fully in the normal activities of life.
How can we keep Super Bowl Sunday and every Sunday, for that matter, a day of holiness?
Gratitude: Talking to our children about our gratitude for the blessings that are received and that we are called to share helps to open their eyes (and ours too) to the reality of all that surrounds us comes from God. Do we bless the food we will be eating as we watch the game? Do we thank God for those who come to share this moment (or those whose house we visit)? Or, if we don’t watch the game, do we give thanks that the store is a little less crowded or the hiking path a little more secluded? Showing gratitude is part of the school of love.
Life lessons: What are the life lessons sports can teach us? The value of practice, hard work, perseverance, camaraderie, teamwork, sharing the burdens, support, fair play and words of encouragement…in both winning and losing are life lessons which help us be better men and women and yes better disciples of Jesus Christ. Talking about these values doesn’t have to be a religion lesson but a reminder of God’s call to community.
Acts of service and love: What we do and how we treat those around us is a sign of our Christian life…how do we value those around us? Making sure we use words of grace and thankfulness to family, especially our spouse, during the day shows the importance of relationship over events…saying please and thank you in the heat of the battle grows the love of family.
As Pope Francis writes, “The Lord’s presence dwells in real and concrete families, with all their daily troubles and struggles, joys and hopes. Living in a family makes it hard for us to feign or lie; we cannot hide behind a mask. If that authenticity is inspired by love, then the Lord reigns there, with his joy and his peace. The spirituality of family love is made up of thousands of small but real gestures. In that variety of gifts and encounters which deepen communion, God has his dwelling place. This mutual concern “brings together the human and the divine”, for it is filled with the love of God. In the end, marital spirituality is a spirituality of the bond, in which divine love dwells. (#315 Amoris laetitia)
God Bless
Fr. Mark
https://watch.formed.org/videos/don-bosco
https://aleteia.org/…/5-keys-to-a-good-education-according…/