Memorial of Bosco
I have been waiting all year for this reflection. Today is the memorial of Bosco. The chocolate syrup! It is about time it was canonized by the Church since it was truly a miracle for drinking milk. Wait…what? It is not the memorial of the syrup? It is really the memorial of St. John Bosco?! Well, in the words of Emily Litella of Saturday Night Live fame, “That’s Different. Never Mind”
Back to our regularly scheduled reflection.
Several years ago I did my first real motorcycle adventure ride. Riding larger off road motorcycles through challenging terrain. I rode the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route with 3 other friends. Colorado is know for its high mountain passes and there were several on this ride. Mainly on the second day. Prior to hitting the planned passes, one of the guys on the ride suggested we substitute a pass called Black Bear Pass for one of the passes on the route. I had no knowledge of Black Bear so we decided to give it a go. The ride up to the summit was challenging, but not life threatening. It was the backside heading down into the town of Telluride that proved to be the heart stopper. We should have gotten a hint of what we were in for when riders on smaller dirt bikes we met at the summit looked at us and incredulously asked us if we were planning on doing Black Bear on THOSE bikes. Referring to their size compared to what they were riding.
When we got into the steep, rocky, 1,000 feet drop off section, with no guard rails, we understood what these riders were warning us about. I had never been so frightened in my life riding a motorcycle. Before then or since. After stopping, then putting our heads together to come up with a plan to make it down into Telluride, we all managed to come out intact and alive. But there were several “underwear changing” moments to say the least.
Fast forward to about four years ago when a group of us rode another Adventure ride in Idaho. The Idaho Backcountry Discovery Route (IDBDR). This ride hit some of the most beautiful mountains Idaho has to offer. But that means, in order to see them, we had to climb and descend mountain pass after mountain pass. Again, riding on the edge of a very steep drop off. But this time was different compared to Colorado. I had been riding big bikes for quite awhile and my confidence factor was definitely higher than when I rode Black Bear. I was able to enjoy the scenery while still maneuvering treacherous terrain. I was in a position where I could trust my riding abilities. I had faith in what I could accomplish. Overcoming fear.
Of course these stories are meant to lead into one of the readings for today. In particular, the Gospel. Mark tells us the story of Jesus and the apostles riding in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a large storm flares up. The Apostles are frightened. Panic would be more like it. Now these guys are experienced fishermen so this was likely not some moderate blow up. For them to be this afraid it must have been a tempest of sorts. And during this maelstrom, they find Jesus sleeping in the stern of the boat. Apparently oblivious to what was going on around Him. The Apostles wake Jesus and say to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Realize that at this point in Jesus’ ministry the Apostles had seen Him cure a man with leprosy, a man with a withered hand, the paralytic who was lowered through the roof and countless people He had encountered during His travels around Galilee. But they still did not trust Jesus. They were afraid that they were in imminent danger of perishing. It was their Black Bear Pass moment I guess. Jesus wakes, rebukes the storm and all becomes calm. He then asks them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
Faith. Also known as Trust. A quiet, calm belief that things will turn out OK. Maybe not quite an absence of fear. Since a little fear is good. It sharpens the senses and can help improve performance. But fear that results in paralysis is not productive. It clouds the mind and can cause one to be frozen in inaction. To be successful at any path in life it becomes necessary to overcome fear. Moving from grade level to grade level in school, traveling to an unfamiliar land for school or work, opening a business, deciding on whether to enter a religious vocation, marriage or even just dating. All these endeavors cause us to face an initial degree of fear. We can face this fear head on or shrink from it. As in my story above of gaining confidence in my riding abilities, training, knowledge and discernment can go a long way to helping us overcome fears that life may throw our way.
But what about THE BIGGEST FEAR? That of our eventual demise. Of leaving this earth. OK, OK. I’m talking about dying. That part of our lives that always sits in the background. The ultimate elephant in the room. We all know it is coming. The Apostles in today’s reading thought it was happening that day on the Sea of Galilee. How do we train and discern for this task? Most of us have little personal experience with death except for experiencing it in our loved ones who have gone before us. How do we not let this fear paralyze us to not living the life that God has given us?
I believe you are doing that training now in one way. You take the time to read Scripture every day. You read the feeble attempts of us here at ACM to offer some small insight into those readings. You go to Mass to listen to priests and deacons giving their views on Scripture. You read the lives of the saints to get some perspective and inspiration. And you receive God into your soul when you receive the Eucharist. But in the end, it is what Jesus asked the disciples when they thought their end had come in that small boat in the storm. “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
Faith/Trust comes after gathering all the information you can on a particular subject. But then the time comes when you must take that leap. It is one thing to have the intellectual portion. It is quite another to say, yes, I believe this is true with all my being. That I really KNOW that I will receive what Jesus promised. That there is a life after this one and that we will share in it with Him if we only commit to what He asks of us. As He asked each Apostle. To “Follow Me“. Fear can never overwhelm us if we have that confidence. If death is not the end, then nothing in this life can have power over me. This is what is meant by Jesus’ victory over death. That victory gives us life that we can truly live. A life not paralyzed by fear.
St. John Bosco took that leap when he was called. He faced a life of poverty without a Father. He learned the way of being a circus performer at a young age and used his performances to preach the Gospel to others. He faced the seminary though he had little formal education. He began schools for boys in poverty and on the streets. And he began the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians). Each step I am sure he faced fear of failure and of rejection. But he was undeterred. While he did not invent the chocolate syrup, he did let his faith in Jesus’ promises be his guidepost.
