{"id":3789,"date":"2015-09-15T07:37:51","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T12:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tomzampino\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2015-09-15T11:16:06","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T16:16:06","slug":"pier-giorgio-frassati-and-the-invasion-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tomzampino\/2015\/09\/pier-giorgio-frassati-and-the-invasion-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Pier Giorgio Frassati And “The Invasion of Grace”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p>\u00a0Verso l\u2019alto<\/em>: Literally, To The Top<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nThose words, as close as anything, constitute the spiritual motto of blessed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/frassatiusa.org\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Pier Giorgio Frassati<\/a>.<\/p>\nThey were words that he himself had inscribed on\u00a0the back of a\u00a0photograph of his last journey up a mountain, gaze\u00a0fixed upwards, taken in June 1925, just one month before his death at the age of 24 from polio, a disease which he\u2019d likely contracted during one of his many visits to the poor of Turin, Italy.<\/p>\nPier Giorgio, as many of you already know, is in some ways my idealized spiritual model, the Godfather, so to speak, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tomzampino\/about\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\">of this blog<\/a>.<\/p>\nHis life story, short though his time on earth was, continues to inspire me, time and again. Pick up at least one <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Man-Beatitudes-Pier-Giorgio-Frassati\/dp\/0898708613\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">good biography<\/a> of his life to better understand why.<\/p>\nThe rich, privileged son of one of Italy\u2019s most prominent families, Pier Giorgio, much like St. Francis before him, completely reversed the framework of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usccb.org\/bible\/mark\/10\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Mark\u2019s rich young man<\/a>, setting him off on a course that ultimately touched many lives \u2013 certainly more than if he had, quite understandably, chosen to simply walk away, cast his eyes inward, and trust in earthly riches.<\/p>\nBut here\u2019s the thing: he did so without, for a moment, relinquishing his excitement for life, his contagious adventurousness, his winsome playfulness.<\/p>\nNo.<\/p>\nRather, he embraced these passions with abandon.<\/p>\nIn fact, these full-blooded emotions were integral to his relentless advocacy on behalf of the poor; an advocacy delivered not so much with words as with countless, selfless, mostly hidden, works \u2013 hidden, that is, from his family, his close friends, and his playmates.<\/p>\nBut the poor of Turin knew them well. And they turned out en masse<\/em> for his funeral.<\/p>\nFrassati reveals to us just how extraordinary one ordinary man can be. He is a role modern for a modern age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn 1990, during Frassati\u2019s Beatification Mass in Rome, Pope St. John Paul II <a href=\"http:\/\/frassatiusa.org\/beatification-homily\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">said this<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>Certainly, at a superficial glance, Frassati\u2019s lifestyle, that of a modern young man who was full of life, does not present anything out of the ordinary. <\/span><\/p>\nThis, however, is the originality of his virtue, which invites us to reflect upon it and impels us to imitate it. <\/span><\/p>\nIn him faith and daily events are harmoniously fused, so that adherence to the Gospel is translated into loving care for the poor and the needy in a continual crescendo until the very last days of the sickness which led to his death. <\/span><\/p>\nHis love for beauty and art, his passion for sports and mountains, his attention to society\u2019s problems did not inhibit his constant relationship with the Absolute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEntirely immersed in the mystery of God and totally dedicated to the constant service of his neighbor: thus we can sum up his earthly life!<\/p><\/blockquote>\nPerhaps it was because he was so full of life, so young, so passionate, that he stood closer to the ideal of who we, in this day, can ourselves become.<\/p>\nSaint John Paul again:<\/p>\n<blockquote>Human eyes \u2014 young, sensitive eyes \u2014 must be able to admire God\u2019s work in the external, visible world.<\/p>\nThe eyes of the spirit must be able to turn from this external, visible world to the inner, invisible one: thus they can reveal to others the realm of the spirit in which the light of the Word that enlightens every person is reflected (cf. Jn 1:9).<\/p>\nIn this light the Spirit of Truth acts. This is the \u201cinner\u201d person.<\/p>\nThis is how Pier Giorgio appears to us. Indeed, his entire life seems to sum up Christ\u2019s words which we find in John\u2019s Gospel: \u201cWhoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our dwelling with him\u201d (Jn 14:23).<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThat is Pier Giorgio in sum.<\/p>\nThat Pier Giorgio, at an early age, was invaded by grace,<\/em> as Bishop Robert Barron calls it in the video embedded above, is obvious.<\/p>\nBut more importantly to each of us here today, we too are often\u00a0invaded by grace<\/em> throughout our lives. We have but to listen and be mindful.<\/p>\nWhat, or who, has now crossed our path that may be holding the door open to grace?<\/p>\nWhat, or who, is trying to interrupt our lives?<\/p>\nAnd why now?<\/p>\nBut this is key: it\u2019s not enough to simply recognize those moments of grace.<\/p>\nOnce we do we are faced with a choice, as Bishop Barron tells us.<\/p>\nDo we cooperate with that grace, or do we reject it?<\/em><\/p>\nI compare the fruits of Pier Giorgio\u2019s response to an invasion of grace in the last century, to those of Mark\u2019s rich young man from 2,000 years ago.<\/p>\nPerhaps it\u2019s not really much of a choice.<\/p>\nPerhaps it\u2019s just not so easy.<\/p>\nMy continuing desire, though I fail often, is to say yes to any grace that might invade my life. And then to relinquish, finally, my spiritual mediocrity \u2013 the one that Bishop Barron warns about.<\/p>\nAnd then one day, perhaps, I\u2019ll even be able to share a drink or two, and maybe even swap a few good stories, with Pier Giorgio himself.<\/p>\nMaybe you\u2019ll join us?<\/p>\nPeace<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0Verso l\u2019alto: Literally, To The Top Those words, as close as anything, constitute the spiritual motto of blessed\u00a0Pier Giorgio Frassati. They were words that he himself had inscribed on\u00a0the back of a\u00a0photograph of his last journey up a mountain, gaze\u00a0fixed upwards, taken in June 1925, just one month before his death at the age of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Pier Giorgio Frassati And "The Invasion of Grace"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0Verso l'alto: Literally, To The Top Those words, as close as anything, constitute the spiritual motto of blessed\u00a0Pier Giorgio Frassati. 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