BOOKS – A DIVINE MEANS

Don Bosco was profoundly convinced that the means of social communication, available in his own times, could help him with his mission as an evangelizer and educator.

Certainly in terms of the reality before him, the means available to him were not many, but he choose them all and knew how to appreciate their value for spreading the Gospel, for the formation of youth, for service to the Church and the People of God. We are certain that had he the chance to know of the new media, the technological latest of our generation, he would have wanted them to make his apostolate more functional, effective and real.

We can draw such conclusions from a letter dated 19th March 1885, in which Don Bosco spoke of his convictions and motivations regarding the importance and alue of good books, something he wanted to pass on to his first Salesians. He would have reserved the same strength of conviction, the same passion, (‘I want to warmly recommend to you..”) for all media, and would have communicated this to Salesians of every period. Each instrument, and in his case the book, is useful in promoting the good and the dignity of human beings, and is a richness and an investment for humanity and its future.