We find the concern and passion for justice reflected in a conversation between Saint John Bosco and a simple blacksmith who supported the saint’s works and began the following conversation:
–“Do you know what my biggest worry is?”
–“Surely it must be to live and die in the grace of God.”
–“No, I’m not worried about death. I take care, though, to be prepared for it when it comes. My biggest worry is this: I am a blacksmith, and I am very much troubled when after finishing a job I have to decide on the price I must charge. As I enter the charge in my book I ask myself: Will the good Lord write down the same amount? If I charge more, won’t that be a charge against me? To play it safe, I always charge 20% less than the ordinary rate”
(Giovanni Battista Lemoyne,The Biographical Memoirs of St. John Bosco, ed. Diego Borgatello, New Rochelle, N.Y, Salesiana Publishers, Inc., 1965, 1: p. 230).
Obviously not all tradesmen can or should take such a position. However, the fact that this simple and prosperous blacksmith and many others like him showed such a great concern for justice can only have created an atmosphere favoring commerce in general.
The above story was adapted from the book, Return to Order.