Don Bosco had been listening to the complaints of one of his Salesians who was quite distressed about the fact that attendance at the youth centre had gone down considerably.  He listened patiently to the claim that there were too many new distractions – things were no longer as they used to be.

The cause of this outburst was none other than a bicycle – just becoming popular at the time – which was proving to be the latest distraction getting the kids all excited. They were going off in droves enjoying their new-found freedom. The poor Salesian indeed had cause for worry.

Don Bosco had only one word of advice: “Well I am afraid there is nothing else to do but to learn the bicycle yourself and to go and run after them.”

Don Bosco needs no introduction – he is well known as the priest who in the last century gave his whole life for the welfare of young people. Anecdotes punctuate his life and highlight his practical wisdom and Salesian style in dealing with young people. His simple but practical reply in the above incident was the fruit of years of experience of working with the young, of being with them and understanding their youthful energies.

Don Bosco is renowned for the enormous amount of work and initiatives which he undertook, setting in motion a vast movement of people – whom he called Salesians after the gentleman St Francis of Sales – and who had one specific purpose: the welfare of the young.

By his vision, determination and hard work, he established a large number of schools, youth centres, oratories, technical institutes, publishing houses, minor seminaries and missionary initiatives. He found the Salesian Family to continue his work with the same vision and flexibility.

Yet, over the years, Don Bosco has inspired not only his spiritual sons and daughters but a vast number of people in their involvement with the young. And rightly so, for Don Bosco belongs to the Church and he is an expression of the ever-dynamic presence of the Spirit.

As Pope John Paul II stated in his letter to commemorate the centenary of the death of Don Bosco, the Church is an expert in humanity and Don Bosco is her concrete expression in her outreach to the young.

However, even though Don Bosco generates so much admiration, it would be true to say that he is not always fully appreciated or understood. The happy and fun-loving environment which is found in Salesian places is dismissed as being a distraction, taking away from more serious endeavours, or that there was no real respect. But for Don Bosco there was no other way.

He believed in presence, in being with the young, in meeting them as they are, in their own space and environment. This meant getting involved in their fun and games, in liking the very things that they liked, in visiting them at their place of work, training them for the particular job, in roaming the streets at night and trying to befriend those who had lost their trust in society.

With his youthful enthusiasm and gentle, loving way, he managed to reach even the most difficult of characters, bringing out what was best in them

For Don Bosco, the playground – and all that it represents – was the central point of contact with the young. It encouraged spontaneity and creativity. It was the only way of coming to know them and to be their friend.

If one tries to intervene immediately to solve problems, one will be ineffective. Where young people are concerned, one has first to be among them as a friend. It is only then that one can reach them.

Don Bosco had a firm faith in the goodness of young people.

Don Bosco had a firm faith in the goodness of young people. They may be misdirected or neglected, but definitely not evil. It was this firm faith which drove him on. He believed in prevention, not just in protecting them from that which could victimise them but, above all, in exposing them to all that is good and positive in life. So education had to be held in a conducive and enjoyable environment. Indeed, prevention is seen as the only effective way even today in trying to tackle problems such as drugs.

When faced with the problems and difficulties that come with young people, he did not moan or try and be antagonistic to their legitimate energies and aspirations.

On the contrary, he went out of his way to meet them and be with them, liking the very things that they liked and even encouraging them to play, run and shout as much as they liked.

Anything good and beneficial which helped them unleash their restless energies in a healthy environment was to be encouraged. If this meant that he had to tuck up his cassock and run and fool about with them, so be it. Was he not taken for a madman and an effort was made to try and lock him up for doing precisely this?

But Don Bosco knew that this was the only way to get to know them and gain their confidence, to be able to reach them. It is only when young people see you as a friend that they open up. “Education,” as he was so often heard saying, “was a question of the heart.” With his youthful enthusiasm and gentle, loving way, he managed to reach even the most difficult of characters, bringing out what was best in them.

Don Bosco chose the young, those of tender age and who have not yet taken their place in society, as he believed they were the most vulnerable in society. If they were not given the right opportunities and environment, they might easily be permanently damaged or exploited. The young were the poor for whom Don Bosco opted. In this option, Pope John Paul II says, one sees the fundamental apostolic option which the Church makes in favour of poor youth, especially those most in danger.

Yet, Don Bosco’s option for the young was not merely a cold, calculated choice he made. It came rather from a genuine love that he had for them, a love that showed itself in his strong desire to be among them.

“Here in your midst, I feel completely at home”. This predilection for the young has to be the starting point of all our involvement.

Don Bosco has a very important message for us today. He is very much relevant for the Malta of today as we are becoming more conscious of the need to be involved where young people are.

He gives us a particular style of how to relate to and reach the young. It is a style that is the fruit of reality and tested with experience; it is a style that no serious educator or youth worker can choose to ignore.