Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the third week in ordinary time, January 31st, 2026, Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest

Delivered by Alice Budiman from the Parish of Salib Suci Cilincing in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. 2 Samuel 12: 1-7a.10-17; Rs psalm 51: 12-13.14-15.16-17; Mark 4: 35-41.THE POWER TO GROW The title for our meditation today is: The Power toGrow. Saint John Bosco, who was born on August 16, 1815, experienced life in anera of industrial growth in Europe, as a direct result of the industrialrevolution of the 19th century. He found that the most affected elementsof society were teenagers and young people.  They were unreliable for the industrial world. Theirparents and adults in general, for those who were capable would join theindustries but those who were not would fall into poverty. Young people wereforced to fill the city streets to make ends meet with useless activities.Often they were subjected to violent exploitation and crimes. Father John Bosco fell in love with them. He gatheredthem to live in the dormitory and provided them with various educational andtraining activities, faith and moral formation, and socio-cultural awareness.The goal is for them to be useful to themselves, their families, the Church andsociety in the future.  For Saint John Bosco, every youth and child is theseed of excellence for God. None of these young people were born evil or bad. Asseed, they must be given the opportunity and all possibilities to grow anddevelop. Don Bosco's education system offers great attention to this. Thissystem is called the Prevention System. Like Don Bosco and the young people of his time, wetoo are like mustard seed in our own circumstances. Mustard seed, God's gift toeach person, is unique, and is never the same for two person. It is everyone'spersonality, experience of faith, and sacred calling. With this uniqueness, weshould actually not envy each other because some have exellence on one side,others have have another. The important thing is that we respect each other andneed each other.  Another thing that is also inappropriate is to copy and paste the uniqueness ofothers until one's own authenticity is almost invisible. This is a seriousfalsehood. People don't become original, independent and believe in their ownabilities. The act of copy paste isalmost the same as stealing. Meanwhile, being spoiled and always dependent is signof immaturity. The parasite type person is not good for living and growingtogether. This is the setback of a good disciple of the Lord Jesus. By avoidingthese weaknesses, a person then finds himself to have the real power to grow.He is worthy to be a disciple sent by Jesus Christ.Let us pray. In the name of the Father... O  heavenly Father, strengthen our faith toremain true disciples of Jesus Christ. Glory to the Father and to the Son andto the Holy Spirit ... In the name of the Father ...