“Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a gentle Father and God of all consolations.”851
The Biblical quotation 'The fear of God is the beginning wisdom' became, for a young man grown into adulthood equivalentto the horror of being separated from God, reason to avoid sin, ‘nostalgia for grace’, ‘desire to be effectively purified and request to be reconciled’, which comes about through the Sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist. He recalls the talks heard in the past, which had touched his heart during the time of his early education. “The thought of God's presence should accompany us at all times, in all places and in every action. And who would have the courage of doing anything which might offend God if he thinks that the one that he wants to offend could, at that very moment in which he wanted to utter that word, dry up his tongue and paralyze the hand with which he intends to sin?”852 “Every kind of sin greatly upsets divine justice and causes us to deserve serious punishments, which will turn into greater punishments in the hereafter if they have no actual effects on the sinner in this life. A sincere willingness to correct oneself may soothe divine justice.”853 “God is merciful and forgives any kind of sin, provided a man is sincerely sorry and carries out a suitable penance”.854These are the two different aspects assumed by God when the wicked Jezabel was punished and the Ninivites were forgiven, because of their conversion.
It is clear that in Don Bosco's language 'fear of God' 'is equivalent to living Christian life to the full. The one who fears God is an observant and exemplary member of the faithful, a good Christian. Fear includes love.Don Bosco gladly accepts what is recommended in the Porta teco cristiano, the guide for Christian living for fathers in reference to their duties towards their children: “2. Raise them up with all diligence in the fear of God, since their health depends on it much like God's blessing on your house and since Divine Providence has entrusted them to you that they might receive a Christian education (Eph.6:4); 3) Impress right away in their tender hearts the holy fear of God, the desire to serve him and a strong love for virtue. (Tob.1:10)”.855
7. Young people in the Catholic Church
“Continue to love the Church in its ministers, continue to live according to our holy Catholic religion, that can make you happy on this earth and eternally happy in heaven”.856This is the lesson imparted by Don Bosco to his own close helpers. Don Bosco sees “belonging to the Catholic Church” as a further unmistakable characteristic of the good Christian and upright citizen. This is one of Don Bosco's key foundations for his catechetical and practical theology: “The Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church is the only true Church of Jesus Christ”.857
He includes, and puts it strongly, attachment and fidelity to its leader, the Pope: “Be intimately convinced of these great truths: where the successor of St. Peter is, there is the true church of Jesus Christ. No one will ever be in the true religion if he is not a Catholic; no one is Catholic without the Pope. Our shepherds, and especially the bishops, unite us with the Pope and the Pope unites us with God”.858
8512 Cor 1:3
852G. Barberis (G. Gresino), Cronaca, quad. 3, evening talk to boys on 21 August 1877, p. 11; cf another version (E.
Dompè), quad. 15, pp. 24-25.
853G. Bosco, Storia sacra per uso delle scuole..., Second and improved edition. Turin, Speirani and Tortone 1853, p. 90 854G. Bosco, Storia sacra per l'uso delle scuole e specialmente delle classi elementari... Third and longer edition. Turin,
Oratory of St Francis de Sales Press 1863, p. 97.
855Porta teco cristiano..., pp. 24-25, OE XI 24-25.
856Letter to members of the Our Lady of Mercy Confraternity, Buenos Aires, 30 Sept 1877, E III 225.
857Title of first edition of his Avvisi ai cattolici. Turin, Speirani and Ferrero 1850, 23 p. OE IV 121-143.
858Avvisi ai cattolici. Turin, P. De.Agostini 1853, p. 6 OE IV 168. Don Bosco's ecclesiology has obvious limitations, cf. P.
Braido, Pedagogia ecclesiastica di don Bosco, pp. 24-42; J. M. Laboa, 'L'esperienza e il senso della Chiesa nell'opera di
Don Bosco', in M. Midali (Ed), Don Bosco nella storia...., pp. 107-133; F. Molinari, Chiesa e mondo nella «Storia
ecclesiastica» di don Bosco, in M. Midali etc. pp. 143-155.