Good Evening!
A story was once told of a famous musician name Sir Robert
Mayer on his 100th birthday. An elderly British socialite Lady Diana
Cooper fell into conversation with a friendly woman who seemed to know her
well. Lady Diana's failing eyesight prevented her from recognizing her fellow
guest, until she peered more closely at the magnificent diamonds and realized
she was talking to Queen Elizabeth! Overcome with embarrassment, Lady Diana
bowed and stammered, "Ma'am, oh, ma'am, I'm sorry ma'am. I didn't
recognize you without your crown!"
"It was so much Sir Robert's evening," the queen
replied, "that I decided to leave it behind." What a shocking
answer from a Queen. Have you ever had a similar experience like that of the
Queen? What do we normally reply when people praise us for all the wonderful
things we have done.
In the book of Fr. Adolf Faroni “What many have not” he presented
Don Bosco as a humble man. Here are some excerpts from the life of Don Bosco
pointing how humble he was. These are not made up stories but real events that
happened to Don Bosco himself.
“On one occasion,” Father Dominic Milanesio told us, “Don
Bosco pointed out to his altar boy a mistake he had made.
“The boy, who was
very lively and outspoken, rejoined: ‘You made one mistake too!’ and then
explained what he meant. Inadvertently – a very rare occurrence for him – Don
Bosco had blessed the water at the offertory in a requiem Mass. Amiably, and
with great humility, Don Bosco
replied: ‘oh, well! I guess we are both in the same boat; we sure can mess
things up!’”
When we are faced with a somewhat similar situation,
especially here in our community how do we react?
Humility
in declining hounours Second Audience
with Pope Pius IX
“Holy Father, my knowledge is not vast, but the one thing I
love and wish is ‘scire Jesum Christum et
hunc crucifixium’ – ‘to know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified’ (1 Cor. 2:2).
The pope remained thoughtful for a while. Then as though
wishing to put him to the test, he said that he had been very pleased with the
retreat Don Bosco had given to the women prisoners, and that, as a token of his
esteem and affection, he had decided to make him a monsignor with the rank of
domestic prelate. Don Bosco, who had never been interested in honors, humbly, thanked him, but he declined
the offer in his usual witty and friendly manner saying: “Your Holiness, that
would never do! My boys would not recognize me any longer and I would lose their
trust. If they had to call me ‘monsignor’, they would not dare come near me and
pull me this way and that as they do now. Besides, everybody would think that
the title had brought me wealth. How could I ever again muster enough courage
to be begging for the oratory and other projects? Holy Father. It is far better
for me to always remain plain Don Bosco!”
The Pope admired Don Bosco’s charming humility.
The Holy Father’s affection for Don Bosco was truly
striking! From then on, Pius IX was always his father and friend. He constantly
held him in high regard, looked forward to conversing with him, sought his
advice, and repeatedly offered him ecclesiastical honors in an attempt to keep
him nearby. But Don Bosco, though always obedient to the Pope’s wishes, did not
feel that he could accept these offers. He sought honors for others but
accepted none for himself. How about us? How do we respond to similar
situations here in our community? I’m not talking about becoming a monsignor…
do we just want to be simple DON (name) or do we want to have an honorary title
as an ornament to our name?
We can see in the life of Don Bosco that he never did once lift
himself up. He remained humble from the day he was born. With the different
projects he was able to accomplish, he attributed it to our Lady and would
address himself as an instrument for something big to happen. He just wants to
be: “SIMPLE DON BOSCO” According to Bishop William Temple: "Humility does not
mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a
low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself
one way or the other at all."
As Salesians, how can we imitate our founder whom we wish to
follow? How do we live our Salesian Vocation?
St. John Bosco
Pray for us
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