St John Bosco

What in God's name does St John Bosco have to do with a blog on Thailand?! I know, nuts, huh!? Well I was married in the church of St John Bosco, Ratchaburi, just over three months ago and it being Sunday today and me being a good Catholic, ok a much better one than I used to be, well I was there with Luna today for mass. John Bosco,according to the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent, died 31st January 1888. So we celebrated his anniversary today and I really must say it was a beautiful event.

Some 50 or so priests concelebrated the mass led by our dear friend The Bishop of Ratchaburi, Panya Kitcharoen. He also has the distinction of marrying us ( some poetic license I think) and we have already shared a joke with the good Bishop about the munificence of his blessing as we are of the view that Luna conceived on our wedding night. There were two western priests on the altar today, the rest were Thai or Asian. Whatever your views on the Catholic Church, and hey, I am very comfortable with you being very against it, ( as I used to be!) this is an astounding testimony to those early missionary priests who came to Ratchaburi about a century ago. The church was bursting at the seems today, with nuns from various orders and the local Catholic community of which I am a part.

Now my Thai is pretty basic so while I imagine I could follow the order of the mass in any language I did not have much understanding of the readings and prayers that were offered for today's occasion. I was expecting Bishop Panya to preach after the gospel but I and others were taken aback when we heard some decidedly unCatholic recorded music start to play and three mischievous looking youths assembled at the steps leading up to the main altar. For a moment I thought, gay activists, disruption. (Please excuse my homophobia!) Then a figure in a black cassock and soutane stepped out onto the altar and I realised .... a choreographed life of St John Bosco. I have to say the message I got was of a priest who reached out to troubled youth, a kind,caring and committed individual. It was really pleasant to watch cos these guys could dance.A really excellent presentation.

At the end of the mass there were some presentations, notably pictures of the Annunciation to the church's oldest parishioners, one being a 95 year old woman. It really felt like founder's day and Bisho Panya shook Luna's hand as he left the church. It is also amusing as I am known to an increasing number of students as I do some teaching in the school attached to the church. So a few of them greeted me as "Teacher Gerry" which is a new one for me. The Bishop really is a man of his people. I get the distinct impression he is not a great one for ceremony as he was very happy to walk off the altar to make life easier for some of the older people as they approached and a couple of kids prostrated themselves on the altar and I think in a very kind and gentle way he told them not to bother!

We paraded St John Bosco around the church and school grounds and then sat down to a free lunch with gifts of oranges from the Bishop, about 500 of us! An absolutely fantastic event. Such an easy relaxed atmosphere, everyone happy, and this is mainline Catholicism, handed down by Italian missionary priests, in small town, Buddhist Thailand.

I got a little emotional during the service. I often do at big events. I am reminded of how lucky I am to be alive and moreover how much I enjoy living in Ratchaburi and being a part of this community. One of the resounding themes of my journey is a distinct sense of feeling "other than" and of definitely not belonging. Here I am in Ratchaburi, with Luna, my filipina wife, another alien, who is expecting our first child, and I really don't see beyond this place. I want to stay here, raise my family, work, play golf, enjoy the remainder of my life in a way that was unknown to me until quite recently. So God bless you, St John Bosco, I pray I can be a good husband, father and teacher and reflect your qualities when I deal with "the yoof" of today. Yup this is Thailand, this is Gerry!