by Nov. Jason
Note: From bishops to novices! This traditional sermonette leading up to the Immaculate Conception celebrations will do more than bring a smile. It carries a salutory message,
LAWA-AN -- One day a scientist was tasked with determining the health secrets of those who manage to live long into their old age. He went to the northern part of our country into the Mountain Province where there was a village peopled with men and women who reputedly live long and healthy lives.
The first old person who amazed him was more than 90 years old. With the help of a translator he began his interview.
“What is your secret of long life?” asked the scientist. The old man said:
“No meat. Purely vegetables and a lot of walking throughout the day. No vices, no alcohol and healthy family life”.
The scientist took down everything. And so he asked his final question:
“How old are you sir?”
To which the old man replied, “93”.
The next person he saw looked a whole lot older than the first.
The researcher again, with the help of a translator, began his interview.
“What is the secret of your life, sir?”
The old man replied, “Early to bed and early to rise. No meat. Just vegetables and fruits and a lot of exercise”.
“And so how old are you sir?” asked the researcher.
The old man said, “103”.
Needless to say, the scientist was even more amazed. When he thought that nothing else could surprise him, there, sitting by the rock, he saw the oldest looking man in the entire village.
Quickly the research scientist approached the old man and with the help of his translator asked:
“Sir, what is the secret to your health?”
To which the man replied, “Plenty of meat. Plenty of wine and women. I sleep late and I never exercise”.
His answer really blew the mind of the scientist. Could he have stumbled upon an unknown health secret that provides longevity despite a frivolous lifestyle?
Quickly he jotted down everything the old man was saying.
And to finally close the interview, he asked:
“So tell me, how old are you sir?”
To which the man replied, “33”!
How about you dear brothers, what is the secret of your graceful existence in the abundance of God's goodness? What is the secret to your perseverance in the vocation you have received from Him? For me, my secret is that I always place my life in the arms of another man's wife - my mother, your mother, our mother, the Immaculate Conception, the wife of St. Joseph, and I am sure that this is not just my secret, but our secret, the fact that she led us all here.
On the very morning of Mama Margaret's death, Don Bosco took along young Joseph Buzzetti and went to celebrate Mass in the lower chapel of the shrine of Our Lady of Consolation. Here, after he had sacrificed the Divine Lamb and offered it to the Eternal Father for the repose of his mother's soul, he prayed for a long time before the statue of Our Lady. Among other things, he said to her: "Most Compassionate Virgin, my sons and I are without a mother now! Please be our mother from now on."
