Mary, Mother of wayward children
Psalm 91
My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
For the Lord is your refuge and you have made the Most High your dwelling place, no harm shall befall you, no disaster shall come near your tent.
The Rector Major’s words
Mary, mother of wayward children, knows the toil of those who educate and do not give up, of those who love and continue to believe even when they see failures, inconsistencies, and runaways. To stand by, guide, protect, and teach is never easy; Don Bosco reminds us that “education is a matter of the heart, and God alone is its master”. This means, first and foremost, opening our hearts to Mary, entrusting our children to her, their confusion, our fears as educators, and allowing her to teach us the art of loving without growing weary.
Mary is the mother of wayward children because she is not scandalized by their mistakes, but walks with them through it all. She knows how to recognize mistakes without crushing people under them; she acknowledges responsibility, but at the same time sees, like Don Bosco, that “even in the most unfortunate children there are seeds of goodness”. Her gaze does not dwell on their failures: it looks beyond, glimpsing a promise, a possibility of resurrection. For this reason, she never despairs: she accompanies, waits, encourages, and intercedes. In Mary’s heart, every story, even the most tragic, can become a story of salvation.
Her educational strength does not come primarily from words, but from her witness. Mary shows through her life what she asks for: trust in God. She is a reassuring presence, a gentle steadfastness that points the way to goodness. Beside her, wayward children discover that they are not defined by their mistakes, but by the love with which they are looked upon.
And those who educate, by looking to her, learn a profoundly evangelical and Salesian method: to prevent evil by believing in the good, to accompany with reason, religion, and loving kindness, to transform every fall into an opportunity for growth. Thus, Mary, mother of wayward children, becomes a school of trust in humanity and the Gospel in action, educating more through the light of her example than through the force of reproach.
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