You're listening to Catholic Sprouts, the daily podcast for January 31st, 2022, and it's the Feast Day of St. John Bosco.

My name is Sister Sidney Moss, and I am a daughter of Mary Help of Christians. But most people

know us as the Salesian sisters of St. John Bosco. So I am a daughter of Mary help of Christians, but most people know us as the Salesian sisters of St. John Bosco.

So I am pretty excited to be with you this week, starting off today with his feast day.

We will be talking about the idea of vocation throughout this week, because this Wednesday, February 2nd, is the feast of the presentation of the Lord,

when we remember how Jesus' parents took him and presented him to God and the temple.

Men and women who consecrate their lives to God as religious priests and sisters and brothers

dedicate their lives in a very special way to God. So we pray for them on February 2nd.

Before we talk about vocation, I want to talk to you about the life of St. John Bosco. Some of you

may be familiar with his story, but first, I want to make sure we know St. John Bosco is also

Don Bosco. I used to always ask, is his name John or Don?

Well, his baptismal name is Giovanni, which is the Italian name for John. And then when John

Bosco became a priest, people called him Don Bosco, because in Italian, Don means father. So you might hear me say St. John Bosco,

or maybe just Don Bosco as I talk about him. Don Bosco was born in Northern Italy in 1815. His family

was very poor, and he had to work a lot as he grew up, helping them on the farm.

When Donboska was only two, he lost his father.

This was a very important event in his life, and later when he became a priest, he wanted to create a home for the many boys who were working in Turin and that did not

have their families with them. Not growing up with his dad, made Don Bosco understand how important

family was. And that is what all of us as Salesian, priests, brothers, and sisters try to create

for the young people who come to our schools

or youth centers, a home environment where they feel loved. Dombaska was ordained a priest when he was

26 years old, and he understood that God was calling him to prevent the young men in Turin from getting

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