Today is the Feast of St. John Bosco, priest and founder of the Salesians. Gus is joined by Fr. Timothy Ploch, SDB, a long-time Salesian priest and the director of the Salesian Center in New Rochelle, New York. He talks about the saint's life, legacy and writings as well as the history of the Salesian Order, which is technically a religious congregation. He also talks about the current state of the Salesians, including vocations, which mirrors the Church worldwide. In the western world, vocations are lacking, but are thriving in Africa, India and Latin America.
Later, Catholic speaker/author Bear Woznick calls in from Hawaii. He and be Gus will be speakers at the 14th Annual Tampa Bay Men's Conference on February 10th. Bear talks about his ministry, living in Hawaii, the story of how he met his wife, and his new book, "12 Rules for Manliness: Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?"
And we are only two weeks away from Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent. Gus resumes a Seize the Day tradition called Reading or Rosary where he offers Lenten penances for listeners who call in and get on the air. Those who choose reading get a copy of one of his "A Minute in the Church" volumes and pledge to read it during Lent. Those who choose Rosary get a Holy Land Rosary and vow to pray it every day during Lent.
St. John Bosco, pray for us!
After listening to your conversation with Bear Woznick, I decided to do some research on him because when I was a junior in high school our principal was a man named Greg Woznick. Further research opened up some remarkable discoveries. Greg was Bear’s father. He became a well-known motivational speaker and then a Catholic deacon. One of the parishes he served was St. Henry’s in Monticello, MN, and he is interred in the church cemetery. I joined St. Henry’s in 2013, after moving to Monticello from North Dakota. I discovered that Mr. Woznick’s (as I always referred to him) funeral was held at St. Henry’s in 2020. Can’t believe I am only discovering that now. Mr. Woznick was a very highly regarded educator and an excellent coach. I discovered a great picture of him and his beautiful wife in my 1962 high school yearbook.