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Homily on the Feast of Bl. Michael Rua, FIS Provincial Assembly Days (PADS), 29 October 2026, SLS-DB Gym, Dumaguete
My dearly beloved Confreres, Novices and Prenovices, Bosconians and Lay Mission Partners, good morning! Happy feastday to all of you!
We Salesians are here today coming from 13 different communities, Don Bosco schools, parishes and youth centers to celebrate our annual Provincial Assembly Days (PADS). I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being a good host for this festive event, and for welcoming us with your beautiful smiles, warm greetings, good food, and open hearts.
By God’s Providence, we also celebrate today the feast of Bl. Michael Rua. Why on this day? It is because on this very day, on 29 October 1972, he was beatified in Rome by Pope St. Paul VI. And so, today is the 54th anniversary of his beatification.
But you might ask, who is Bl. Michael Rua? Don Rua, as he is fondly called by the Salesians, is the first successor of Don Bosco (the saintly father and founder of the Salesian Congregation). At Don Rua’s beatification, Pope Paul VI said in his homily that the former merits to be proclaimed “blessed” because “he became Don Bosco’s continuator: a son, a disciple and an imitator of Don Bosco.” Moreover, he said that it was Don Rua who “made of Don Bosco’s example a school; of Don Bosco’s personal work, an institution extended over the whole earth; of Don Bosco’s life a history; of Don Bosco’s holiness, a type and a model; and of Don Bosco’s spring, a current and a river.”
Don Rua was only nine years old when he first met Don Bosco in Turin, Italy. As a boy he was already prayerful and diligent in his daily duties. He would sometimes meet Don Bosco on his way to school, or coming home from school. And he would usually run to the priest, kiss his hand and ask “Will you give me a medal?”
One day, when Michael approached Don Bosco and greeted him in his usual way, Don Bosco put his biretta (priest’s black hat) on the boy’s head, held out the left palm of his hand, and with his right hand, he made a gesture as if to cut it in half. Then, he said to the bay “Take it, Michael; take it.” Michael was puzzled not knowing exactly how to react. So, he shook Don Bosco’s hand and asked, “What was that all about?” It was actually Don Bosco’s way of prophesying the future of Michael Rua; that he would one day become the right hand of Don Bosco in running the affairs of the Oratory, and later on, also of the future Congregation.
We Salesians have similar encounters with Don Bosco when we were much younger. This may explain why we chose to become Salesians. We want to continue the mission which Don Bosco had begun for poor and underprivileged youth. Now, let me ask you a question. In this beautiful school, are there Bosconians here who want also to share in the mission of Don Bosco as Salesians? (Wait for their response.)
The gospel passage we have heard today presents a young man who wanted the best things in life. He was rich and had many possessions. And he wanted to acquire something else that he did not yet have, namely, eternal life.
And so, he ran up to Jesus, knelt down before him and asked him “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit E.L., that is, eternal life? Jesus’ answer was very simple. “Observe the commandments.” Then, the young man said, “I don’t have any problem with that. I am a good boy. I have observed those commandments faithfully since I was a child. So, what else should I do?”
Jesus must have been glad upon hearing those words. So, he looked at the young man with love and gave this reply “There’s one more thing you need to do. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor. Then, come and follow me.” Unfortunately, the young man felt sad, and he walked away dissatisfied. Why? The gospel identified only one reason – he had too many possessions.
Dear Bosconians, you have many good things in life which many other kids of your age do not have. Now, do you want heaven also to be yours? Do you also want to inherit a life for all eternity with God? (Wait for their response.) Then, do whatever Jesus is telling you to do. Say YES to the Lord and do not be afraid of the consequences of your positive response, because God is so much greater than all your possessions in this present life.
When Jesus said to the young man “Go, sell all you have, and give to the poor” he was not telling him to do something impossible. I believe and I am convinced that what Jesus was proposing to him was something he himself had already done earlier in his life. After his baptism by St John the Baptist at the River Jordan, and before he began his new mission as the Messiah, Jesus must have gone back home in Nazareth. And taking a last look at his carpentry shop, he must have sold it to someone else, gave some of the money to his dear Mom, and then gave away all the rest to the poor.
Jesus, as a young man, took the courage to give up all his possessions in order to save souls in obedience to the Father’s will. And that could explain why he could challenge the young man wanting to gain eternal life to do exactly the same.
When Bl. Michael Rua was young, he did what that young man in the gospel could not do. He left his home, his family and his few possessions and followed Don Bosco. At 15 years old, he willingly put on the sotana, and in 1859, at 22 years old, he made his First Religious Profession along with the first batch of the Salesians of Don Bosco. He would eventually be ordained a priest, and later become Don Bosco’s right hand in many things – first, in assisting the boys, and then, in running the oratory and expanding it. Much later, he would also become Don Bosco’s assistant in founding the Salesian Congregation, and then, in having its Constitutions approved by Rome.
In all these, Don Rua did his best to copy Don Bosco as perfectly as he could. It was said that Don Rua became the carbon copy of Don Bosco – or in today’s terms, a clear photocopy, or a digital copy of high resolution. And that is why, after Don Bosco’s death in 1888, Don Rua was recognized as the ideal Salesian to succeed him as Rector Major. And despite the many trials, tests and tribulations he had to face, by God’s grace and the intercession of MHC, Don Rua managed to sustain the mission that Don Bosco left behind. He even made it flourish amazingly even so much more within the 22 challenging years of his leadership.
Let me show this to you in numbers. Upon Don Bosco’s death, the number of Salesian Provinces were six (6), the Salesian Houses were 64, and the Salesian priests and brothers were 768. Twenty-two years later, upon Don Rua’s death in 1910, the six Salesian Provinces increased to 34; the Salesian Houses increased from 64 to 341, and the total number of Salesians increased from 768 to 4001 plus another 371 who were Novices.
Today, we need more young men and women who are generous and courageous enough like Michael Rua to answer God’s call. We need more people willing to leave behind everything, including home and loved ones, to follow the Lord along the footsteps of Don Bosco. We Salesians, Novices and Prenovices here present today are trying to say to you “We have done it. We have left everything to follow Jesus along the footsteps of Don Bosco up to the end of our lives. If we can do it, you too can do the same.”
Dear Bosconians, Jesus is looking back at you today with so much amazement and love, because you are all good. Your singing in the liturgy is so good. Your serving at the altar is excellent. Your performance in school is remarkable. Your entire school is clean and green, well-kept and beautiful. And so, now he says to each one of you “Come, follow me. It may not be easy, but it is definitely not impossible. Just do it.”
I now conclude with a strong exhortation addressed to the Salesians, Novices and Prenovices here present including those who could not come for today’s event. Imperfect as we are, let us strive to be living copies of Don Bosco, following the example of Bl. Michael Rua. I’m dead sure that if we really strive to do so, many more young people will follow after us and share in the mission of Don Bosco. GiGsss!
