Hajja Salesjana

Matthew 25: Keep it Human is the latest temporary exhibition at Museo Casa don Bosco. It is inspired by Jesus’ words, “ whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and siters, you do unto me ” . The paintings in the collection capture the human face of Jesus in our brothers and sisters whose eyes scream silently for attention: the hungry and those deprived of water, weary care-givers at the front-lines of the pandemic, migrants and refugees. Matthew 25: Keep it Human is a logical extension of Don Bosco’s mission to the young which began at the Valdocco Oratory and now extends to 134 nations. One way to understand the birth of Don Bosco’s mission is this: it was as a Gospel-inspired response to the plight of migrant youth in Turin. In his Memoires , Don Bosco describes his first boys as strangers in Turin, desperate for work, having recently arrived from Savoy, Switzerland, Val d’Aosta, Biella and Novara. Some had just been released from prison. All faced the perils of being undesired in a not so welcome environment: separated from family, uneducated, ignorant of the Piedmontese dialect, homeless, with no point of contact with social or religious institutions, bereft by poverty, vulnerable to every form of exploitation, and invisible even to the diocesan church. Where so many saw only a disposable nuisance, Don Bosco looked upon every homeless boy as a friend, a family member, a gifted protagonist for the betterment of society and the building of God’s kingdom. This same eye for invisible beauty is shared by the collection’s artist, Massimiliano 26 Jannar-Marzu 2022 hajja Views from Valdocco Fr. Mike Pace, SDB, Vice-Director, Casa Don Bosco Museum, Turin Matthew 25: Keep it Human