From a young age, Don Guanella was captivated by the essential vision of the Gospel: God is a provident and merciful Father, who treats man as a son, the object of his care and gifts, especially if he is weak and in need: "God the Father is rich like the sea, which pours out as much water as it receives on the earth, and it never diminishes. God the Father rewards you for the services you render him and looks upon you with loving kindness, as if he had only you to think of. In this he resembles the sun, which stands in the middle of the sky and sends its light and heat to both the mountains and the plains, to the rocks and the sea, and looks upon everyone and at the same time directs its rays towards you, as if he had only you to provide for" (Don Guanella).
In Don Guanella's thought, every person's life is a love story between God the Father and his children. Every person, even the humblest and most needy, is called to be part of God's Family. Thus Don Guanella's field of intervention is clearly delineated: orphaned and street children, the elderly, the mentally disabled, whom Don Guanella calls "Good Children," and all those at risk of marginalization or considered the "discarded" of humanity.
To God who is solicitous with his Providence , man responds with faith, prayer, trust in God's Providence and with the commitment to become a Good Samaritan towards those who lie wounded on the side of life's road.
The pedagogy of his two religious families is summed up in a simple pairing: giving everyone "Bread and Lord." "Bread": as attention to the human advancement of each person, their physical, intellectual, psychological, and social development. "Lord": with a watchful eye also on the insuppressible needs of their spirituality, to be cultivated to the maturity to which each person is called both in their relationship with God and in society.
