austraLasia 1084
Question: Who wrote this - and
why?
"It can even enter homes
where the priest cannot.
The dubious will
take it as a gift
or remembrance.
There is no blush in the offering of it.
Neglected, it does not feel troubled.
Read, it calmly teaches truth.
Scorned, it does not lament the fact,
but leaves a lingering regret,
sparks desire to know the truth
which it is disposed, always, to teach.
At times it gathers dust
on a table,
in a bookcase,
given thought by no one.
Come a time, however,
of loneliness,
of sadness,
of boredom,
of need for escape,
of anxiety about the future
and this faithful friend
casts off its dust, unfolds, multiplies
the conversions of Blessed Columbinus,
Saint Augustine and Saint Ignatius.
Ever polite with those afraid through human respect,
it speaks to them without hint of suspicion.
With good people it is a familiar thing,
ready to talk things over;
it accompanies them
everywhere,
any time...
In a family,
if the intended one does not read it,
then a son or daughter,
a friend or neighbour
does.
In a village,
it falls into the hands
of a hundred or more.
In a city,
God alone knows
the good
a book
produces -
in a bookmobile,
amongst a group of workers,
in a hospital,
as a pledge of friendship given...
Answer: Don Bosco. A lyrical piece in his most
lyrical work, 'On the spreading of Good Books'. Saturday 19th March is the
120th anniversaryof the day ,1885, Don Bosco wrote it. A good Salesian
tradition could be inaugurated if we gave, left lying about, a good
book next Saturday!
____________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian
Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based
in Rome. Try also www.bosconet.aust.com and Lexisdb
