July 4, 1925, Pier Giorgio Frassati died from polio at age twenty-four. Today, young adult Catholics around the world perpetuate Pier’s beautiful spirit of service by sponsoring hikes, service projects, and prayer gatherings in his honor. John Paul II beatified him on May 20, 1990.
Pier Giorgio demonstrates that a true Catholic Christian spiritual journey is a noble adventure. His legacy beckons all people of God and pilgrims of faith, to climb the rugged mountain of holiness. What does this mean? Mysterious and obscure in the modern world, holiness begins with perceiving the whole reality of life within the reality of God’s love for us. It is not a topic for mere theological speculation, but rather a conviction to be lived. We live it through our individual uniqueness and our Catholic response to the various circumstances in our lives.
At first, the desire for holiness may be an unrecognized yearning, a searching for truth or a striving to be good. We experience a nameless hunger for something more than the world has to offer: The recognition of holiness is revealed when we discover that our only destiny is God, the way to God is Christ, and Christ is our ultimate holiness. The erudite Edith Stein offers insight about this nameless hunger: “God is truth. All who seek truth seek God whether this is clear to them or not.”
The call to holiness can astound us. Who me? You have to be kidding! Nevertheless, there is a longing for God, whether we are consciously aware of it or not. Carl Jung said, “Bidden or not bidden, God is present.” This longing becomes more prominent when worldly pursuits disappoint, or when persons or things let us down. We wonder, “Is that all there is?” If we truthfully answer this question, our longing for God takes us from the many detours promising instant happiness to the singular direction of eternal true joy. If we fail to find an attraction to God, it is not because God has failed to provide it. It is due to our shortsightedness, a failure to look beyond immediate circumstances to God’s broader plan. It is easy to believe that security and happiness exist apart from God. But, in the long run, don’t we find that many of the things we chase after are either elusive or unsatisfying? Pier Giorgio found the importance of God and lived this greatest discovery. He challenges us to do the same.
The Sun Begins to Rise
Holiness makes its first quiet dawn into a new day with the realization that there is something more to life than career, success, social status, physical pleasures, material comforts or other worldly gains. A new beginning, a different orientation to life, begins to shine. Something inexplicable nags at our subconscious. Something deeper, more satisfying than what the world offers. Our curiosity is piqued. We begin to seek satisfaction in nature and service, rather than in self-serving pursuits. One does not immediately recognize the truth that true happiness cannot be found apart from God, but the early light of dawn will begin to illuminate that fact. True authenticity is only found in God. God loves each individual more than anyone else possibly could. He desires what is best for us, and by far the best for us is to grow in holiness.
The following story shows how nature revealed a remarkable scene that changed a person’s life:
There was a man who lived on the Great Blasker island off the coast of Kerry, Ireland, who worked from dawn to dusk every day of the week. He owned a small flock of sheep. He was short of help, and his family being young, he had no time to check his sheep except on Sundays. So, instead of going across to the mainland to attend Mass with the other islanders, he would take his stick and his dog and go up the hill to check on his sheep. It wasn’t that he had no faith. . . . It was just that he was a stubborn man who always did what suited himself.
His wife often tried to get him to change his ways. She told him that he was not setting a good example for his children. Why couldn’t he check on his sheep after returning from Mass, as his neighbors did? But he ignored her.
One Sunday, when all the islanders had gone to Dunquin to Mass, he went up the hill as usual. Since the wind was from the south, he went to the north side of the island, expecting to find the sheep there. But there wasn’t a sheep to be found. Puzzled, he then went to the south side, and to his surprise found the sheep there. He was amazed to see them gathered into one spot, a marvelous beam of light shining down on them through a break in the clouds.
This simple scene made a deep impression on him. The result was that the following Sunday, he was the first to arrive on the pier to get the boat to Dunquin for Mass. And he never again missed Mass on a Sunday.1
Living holiness is unique, affects every part of a person, and influences one’s outlook on life. An individual builds a friendship with God through prayer, the teachings and traditions of religion, in sacraments and sacramentals, worship and praise, rites and rituals, study, labor, leisure, rest, saint watching and works of service. Friendship with God is noticeable in everything a person does. The beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in this world. Someone said sanctity is the highest level of maturity.
The journey to holiness is usually a slow and steady process, with few, if any, extraordinary mystical events. It does not take place outside, above or alongside other areas of life. It is the very essence of one’s being, similar to the tranquility of a home where the soul thrives and the Triune God dwells. The author of The Cloud of Unknowing encourages: “If you wish to keep growing you must nourish in your heart the lively longing for God. Though this loving desire is certainly God’s gift, it is up to you to nurture it.” Jesus alone satisfies the deep yearnings of the heart. The quest for Jesus should never end. Often an individual finds him, and then loses him only to find him again at a deeper, more intimate level. That very process leads to holiness.
The spiritual journey does not elevate a person above humanity or distinguish him as a singularly sacred being. Of course, there are always a few “bright light” saints who radiate God’s goodness for the world to see, but most Christians are meant to be little flames of light, shining the love of Christ throughout daily routines, neither being oracles of wisdom nor fountains of advice. However, when a Christian has the opportunity to witness to Jesus, he or she is prepared. Because Christians can pray everywhere, they should try to be holy everywhere, refraining from talk and behavior that is crude, profane or disrespectful. To be holy is to take a stand against the evils in society.
We ponder the words of Benedict XVI: “And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is. We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary. There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the gospel, by the encounter with Christ. There is nothing more beautiful than to know him and to speak to others of our friendship with him.” In holiness, we remain perpetually in awe of Jesus Christ.
To be attentive to holiness, is to bond to that which lasts forever. Time and death cannot take it away. God is the creator of all that is good. The eternal realm is closer to the temporal realm than we can imagine. However, it is important to keep one’s head out of the clouds. The Jesuit William Dych wrote, “The more one keeps both feet solidly on the ground, the better one can find God. To try to keep one foot in heaven and one foot on earth is to run the risk of being painfully pulled apart.” Grace is a necessity for travel along the holiness trail, for getting to heaven and for helping others to get to heaven. When our feet are firmly planted on the ground, we can more easily see how everything is interwoven and connected to God. We are interdependent on each other.
Once upon a time, a little girl was lost in a large wheat field. The wheat was taller than she was. Her parents called in the neighbors to help find her, but all was in vain. Although they shouted and searched, they could not find the little girl. Finally, on the third day, the father said to the townspeople, “Let us all join hands and go through the field in a line.” In no time, the child was found. Behind the plan was a common purpose. The child had to be found. The father gathered all the people who were willing to help. No one said, “I
