The following story comes from an article on Gratitude by Ron Rolheiser:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a Jewish folk-tale which runs something like this:<\/p>\n
There once was a young man who aspired to great holiness. After some time at working to achieve it, he went to see his Rabbi.<\/p>\n
\u201cRabbi,\u201d he announced, \u201cI think I have achieved sanctity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dWhy do you think that?\u201d asked the Rabbi.<\/p>\n
\u201dWell,\u201d responded the young man, \u201cI\u2019ve been practicing virtue and discipline for some time now and I have grown quite proficient at them. From the time the sun rises until it sets, I take no food or water. All day long, I do all l do all kinds of hard work for others and I never expect to be thanked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have temptations of the flesh, I roll in the snow or in thorn bushes until they go away, and then at night, before bed, I practice the ancient monastic discipline and administer lashes to my bare back. I have disciplined myself so as to become holy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rabbi was silent for a time. Then he took the young man by the arm and led him to a window and pointed to an old horse which was just being led away by its master.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been observing that horse for some time,\u201d the Rabbi said, \u201cand I\u2019ve noticed that it doesn\u2019t get fed or watered from morning to night. All day long it has to do work for people and it never gets thanked. I often see it rolling around in snow or in bushes, as horses are prone to do, and frequently I see it get whipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, I ask you: Is that a saint or a horse?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ron Rolheiser writes that \u201cto be a saint is to be motivated by gratitude, nothing more and nothing less.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Rolheiser points out that the sin of Adam and Eve was a failure in receptivity and gratitude.\u00a0\u00a0 God gives them life, each other and many other beautiful blessings and asks them to receive it properly and in gratitude.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead, in their greed, they demand more.\u00a0\u00a0 To receive in gratitude and be properly grateful is the most primary of all religious attitudes, and not necessarily to live a very strict and disciplined life. That alone does not make one a saint. Many have often identified sanctity and virtue with self-renunciation and the capacity to do what is difficult.\u00a0 Saints are people who are grateful, who see and receive everything as gift.<\/p>\n
When we begin to demand or feel entitled, when we say things like:\u00a0 you owe me such and such a thing, such a position, title or whatever, it points to a lack of gratitude and a demand to take rather than to receive.\u00a0 Sometimes our own history as a nation has portrayed these characteristics.\u00a0\u00a0 We feel we are entitled, even if others suffer. \u00a0We take, rape the land or waste as though we have a right.\u00a0\u00a0 This is part of our original sin and the sin of our nation.\u00a0 \u00a0We demand\u00a0 without considering the cost to others.<\/p>\n
During these Thanksgiving holidays, let us take a moment and thank God for the many blessings He has given us.\u00a0\u00a0 Let us intentionally give thanks for the small things and the \u201clittle people\u201d in our lives who do much for us and yet go unnoticed.\u00a0\u00a0 And, yes also give thanks for our country, our rich history of generosity and openness to immigrants and for some wonderful leaders who have had the courage to do what was right.<\/p>\n
I wish to thank all of you who are part of the Salesian Family:\u00a0 my brothers in community, our Salesian Sisters, our collaborators and cooperators, members of the many Salesian groups who make up our Salesian Family and all those who work tirelessly for the young, our young people who continue to inspire us and all those who make up our wonderful province.\u00a0\u00a0 May our Good God bless you and your families.\u00a0 \u00a0We are grateful for your presence in our lives.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Please continue to keep Fr. Leo Baysinger in your prayers as we pray for his eternal rest and thank God for his life and dedication to the mission given to us by Don Bosco.\u00a0\u00a0 Funeral services will be held at St. John Bosco High School on Wednesday, December 4th<\/sup>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Funeral Liturgy will be at 4:30 pm followed by a simple reception.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 His burial in Richmond will be held on Friday, December 6th,<\/sup> with a Mass at 11am in the Salesian community chapel.\u00a0 Fr. Leo will be buried in the province cemetery next to our Salesian residence.\u00a0 \u201cEternal rest grant unto him O Lord!\u00a0 And, let perpetual light shine upon him.\u201d<\/p>\n Let us also remember the feast of our patron of our province, St. Andrew the Apostle.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, this feast sometimes gets buried underneath the many other feasts, celebrations and holidays.\u00a0\u00a0 We are grateful for his example of following Christ and leading others to Him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 May we also accompany the young to Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 May St. Andrew, the Apostle, continue to intercede for us and accompany us on the road to holiness.<\/p>\n I will be celebrating our Thanksgiving meal with the Salesians from the North at St. Luke\u2019s in Stockton.\u00a0\u00a0 I will remain at the provincial house until Monday.\u00a0 I will then travel down to Los Angeles for a Board of Directors meeting at Don Bosco Tech, Rosemead and for the funeral of Fr. Leo Baysinger.<\/p>\n Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.\u00a0\u00a0 And, remember, \u201cto be a saint is to be motivated by gratitude, nothing more and nothing less.\u201d<\/p>\n With warm regards and gratitude,<\/span><\/p>\n Fr. Ted<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Salesian Sisters and Brothers, The following story comes from an article on Gratitude by Ron Rolheiser: \u201cThere\u2019s a Jewish folk-tale which runs something like this: There once was a young man who aspired to great holiness. After some time at working to achieve it, he went to see his Rabbi. \u201cRabbi,\u201d he announced, \u201cI think I have achieved sanctity.\u201d \u201dWhy do you think that?\u201d … Continuar leyendo Provincial Letter: November 27th, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":2486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20310044,69785],"tags":[35890,686820593,100143],"class_list":["post-2485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-province-news","category-provincial","tag-featured","tag-provincial-letter","tag-sdb"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-E5","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/province_anniversaries-2019-80.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2487,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2485\/revisions\/2487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}