Paul Cillo: Pastoral Associate for Youth Ministry, Our Mother of Consolation Parish (Phila. Pa)
Paul Cillo
A Spiritual Father from the Past
Starting in high school I began my ten-year journey attending and working in La Sallian Schools. Over that time I became familiar with the life and teachings of Saint John Baptiste de La Salle. We would begin each class with a prayer and end that prayer with the words, “Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.” After discerning out of the Christian Brothers I found myself back in Philadelphia at a school and parish under the ministry of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. It was here that I became familiar with de Sales and his motto “Live Jesus.”
Over the last four years, Saint Francis has become a spiritual father to me that speaks across time. His instructions and words help me to grow in holiness as a husband, father, and teacher. While I can quote any number of his practical sayings, one that has always been important to me has been, “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” I first came across this quote while reading a book about de Sales before I even knew that I would be working at a Salesian parish.
The quote really came alive though through the conversations that I would have with my former pastor, Father Bob Bazzoli, OSFS. The common thread of confessions and conversations was always to be patient in my spiritual growth and to take each day or obstacle as it comes. It’s the advice that just about every young person needs to hear and one that comes from lived experience. It is easy to be full of excitement, hopes, expectation, and energy when you are young and fired up about Jesus. That feeling quickly hits the wall of falling short of those expectations and feelings. I know deeply that I am not the person that I want to be and that I do not always do what God wants me to do. Just because I do not do what God wants does not mean that I am not who God wants me to be. I am who God made me to be. I am a work in progress on the path of holiness. If God can be patient with me then surely I can be a little more patient with myself.
