Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom,
my memory, my understanding, and my will.
All that I have and cherish You have given me.
I surrender it all to be guided by Your will.
Your grace and Your love are wealth enough for me.
Give me these, Lord Jesus, and I ask for nothing more.

Amen.

We Catholics are very fortunate to have a huge selection of saints to study — men and women who embody this integrity. Of course we all strive to follow Christ. That is our ultimate goal. But for those of us who need a practical example of someone living a life for and with Christ, we can turn to the saints to inspire us.

Most often when talking about St. Francis of Assisi, people mention poverty, penance, and charity. On the surface, these are definitely good descriptors for the legacy that St. Francis left for us. But looking deeper, I see a man who lived the gospel as he was called — with integrity. St. Francis did God’s will — without compromise.

I pray for the ability to live my life with a similar zeal, and I strive to serve God with this same integrity.

It was as though conversion was some sort of an accomplishment. Completion of RCIA was, for me, too much like a graduation ceremony.

In the years following my formal entrance into Holy Mother Church, I began to read biographies of several saints. I started to notice a common thread in the lives of many of them. While some, like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Ignatius of Loyola, did have powerful conversion experiences that changed their lives, these experiences were just the beginning of a lifelong conversion process.

St. Francis had a powerful experience in which Jesus on the San Damiano Crucifix spoke to him. This quite obviously caused an immediate change in the priorities in his life. But he was not all of a sudden converted. His spiritual journey was not complete. Rather, it had just begun. It was not until the latter part of his life that St. Francis really experienced mystical gifts such as the stigmata.

The lives of saints such as Francis were marked by an ever-increasing devotion to prayer. Only through a commitment to prayer and the Sacraments of the Catholic Church can we hope to better know our living God. Experience has shown me that any attempt to discern and obey the will of God is well rewarded. This is exactly what Conversion for Life is all about. Conversion is a lifelong process, not an accomplishment. How fortunate are we to have such a bright Light to guide us?

Toward the end of my atheist years, I began to feel some sort of calling. Eventually, this calling led me to explore Christianity in more detail. I was never really sure why, but I knew that I wanted to learn more. Initially, I felt much more drawn to some of the Protestant churches. They seemed much more – modern. Most of them played fairly upbeat music, and some of them even let you have coffee during the service!

What was bothering me though, was the vast number of denominations that I had to choose from. They all had different approaches, slightly different beliefs or interpretations, and there was enough inconsistency among them to make me want to abandon this inquiry altogether. I slowly began to realize that having coffee and listening to rock music sure sounded nice, but what really mattered most to me was truth. I realized that consistent theological and moral teaching since the time of Jesus was the number one most important thing to me in a faith.

I eventually found the truth that I was looking for in the Catholic Church. I entered RCIA and completed the three necessary Sacraments to enter the Church, but to be honest I had quite a weak faith. I often questioned my decision, and thought longingly about the upbeat music and gourmet coffee that I was missing.

Eventually, I stumbled into a book about Marian apparitions. One thing that always seemed so strange to me about Catholics was their preoccupation with Mary. As I read about Church-approved apparitions such as those that occurred at Fatima, Portugal and Lourdes, France, I began to understand why. Catholics are so devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary because she’s always revealing herself and guiding us toward her son!

The apparitions that occurred at Lourdes, beginning February 11, 1858, are one of the most amazing events in Church history. I won’t go into any detail about these apparitions because there are so many other resources that have already covered them so well.

Supernatural events such as these played a large part in growing my faith, which was so weak in the first couple of years following my conversion. I am amazed by the number of miraculous cures, and the huge number of conversions that have occurred as a result of Our Lady’s appearances to St. Bernadette. God willing, these will continue long into the future.

There have been many purported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, even in relatively recent times. Unfortunately, enough of these have turned out to be fraudulent that doubt is cast upon most of them. Fortunately, as with most other matters, we have our Church to guide us. Once the Catholic Church has proclaimed that these events can be trusted, one can rest assured that sufficient research has been done, and solid proof found. While this might sound like blind, ignorant faith, the reality is that it takes a much larger leap of faith to try and explain events such as these by some method other than the miraculous intervention of God.

A prayer for the intercession of our Blessed Mother:

Divine Jesus,

You sent the Blessed Mother to Saint Bernadette to show the world that God is real.

Just like Mary asked to the girl to dig for a spring of healing water to appear, show me how to be cleansed of my sinful tendencies.

Give to me our dear Mother when I need her tender love and holy inspiration.

As I go through difficulties, cover me with her prayers. When I have important decisions to make, ask her to intercede for me until I understand and follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

When it’s time for me to die, send her to carry me peacefully into the arms of our heavenly Father.

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for me.

Amen.

“There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips.”

St. John Bosco, otherwise known as Don Bosco, or St. Giovanni Melchior Bosco in Italian, was a very inspirational man. His life was accompanied by many miracles, marvels, and spiritual graces. While those graces are definite attention getters, what truly makes him special are the many ways in which he imitated Christ in his mission of caring for boys who were otherwise condemned. He possessed an admirable spiritual integrity, which is found so often in the saints of the Catholic Church.

St. John Bosco was born into a relatively poor family near Catelnuovo, Piedmont, Italy, on August 16, 1815.

John frequently experienced mystical dreams throughout his life, even in his early childhood. One of the more significant dreams occurred when John was just nine years old. He dreamed that he was in a field with rowdy children, and then he jumped in trying to get them to behave by fighting and shouting. Suddenly a man that had a face filled with light appeared wearing a flowing white covering. This man made John the leader of the boys, which stunned him. The man said, “You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows but with gentleness and kindness.” This seemed quite impossible to John, as he was just a young boy himself. The man assured John that once he changed and grew in humility, faithfulness, and strength, he would see a change in these children. He also learned that this would be the field of his life’s work.

John obviously had no idea what most of this meant, and those that he told just laughed at him. John was laughed at often during his life, and even thought to be insane by some. At one point in his life, John was nearly committed to an institution.

Eventually, this first mystical dream led him to become a priest and minister to poor and neglected boys. He learned to do tricks and juggle so that he could catch their attention. He would then take them to Mass and introduce them further into the faith. He ultimately gained renown for his work as a confessor, showing tremendous insight into people’s souls.

St. John Bosco dedicated his life to the service of abandoned youth. He worked to change the way these young people were treated, and continues to this day to inspire others to finish the work that he began.

St. John Bosco died on January 31, 1888, the day on which we celebrate his memorial, at the age of 72. He was declared venerable by Pope Piux X in 1907, beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1929, and canonized by Pius XI in 1934.

St. John Bosco is the patron of boys, students, young people, and laborers. He is certainly worthy of veneration by others as well. Fathers especially should find wisdom in the words of St. John Bosco. The following are excerpts from a letter that he wrote. This man, though he had no children of his own, is a wonderful source of inspiration in dealing with youth.

“It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a boy than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the boys. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.”

“This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized, and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so he bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.”

“There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.”

A simple prayer for the intercession of St. John Bosco follows:

Saint John Bosco, you reached out to children whom no one cared for despite ridicule and insults. Help us to care less about the laughter of the world and care more about the joy of the Lord. Amen

For additional information about St. John Bosco, check out the following resources:

Salesiani di Don Bosco
BoscoNet