The Canonization of Saints Carlo Acutis and Pierre Giorgia Frasatti

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Welcome to episode 20 of the Saint John the Baptist Parish podcast. It's our first episode since the start of fall, and also is the first episode since father Alberto was installed as pastor of our parish, which happened this past weekend.

We give thanks to god for the appointment and installation of father Alberto. Please pray for him. Continue to pray for him and all the priests in the Archdiocese of Miami. Well, as we transition into fall, there's a lot of things going on at the parish. Next weekend or this coming weekend, October 4, father John is beginning a bible study, and that is gonna be starting at 09:30 in the morning, Saturday, October 4 in the parish hall.

Please come join us for an engaging, in-depth introduction to the gospel of Matthew, and this is gonna occur over the next five Saturdays. Well, the order of Christian initiation of adults is the process for adults who desire to join the Catholic faith and for those who want more information to do so. We're having an inquiry session. This is for those interested or maybe even open to being interested to joining the church. Tuesday, October 7, 6PM, there's gonna be a meet and greet in the parish hall.

The pregnancy help center is in need of a few items you could help out. They need sleepers, pajamas, clothing, size newborn to six months, pacifiers, baby washcloths. You can find a complete list of what they need in the church bulletin. This Sunday is the blessing of the animals. Of course, this follows the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, which actually falls on Saturday.

So on Sunday at 02:30 in the afternoon, it's the blessing of the animals. Now if you bring your pet, they must be on a leash or in a secure carrier. And our Women's Guild does so much for our parish. We're so grateful for them. They're going to be having a membership coffee on Wednesday, October 8, in the parish hall to welcome new members.

So please consider inviting a female family member or friend for coffee and fellowship, Wednesday, October 8 at 09:30AM. And this Friday, the men's club comes together for delicious breakfast, Rudy's breakfast. After the 08:45 mass in the parish hall, all are welcome. As Catholics, we have the saints of the church to look to for virtues to emulate, for strength in their struggles. And now we have two new saints that Pope Leo the fourteenth canonized on September 7 in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Square in Rome.

The two men are Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, both young laymen who died early in life. Their stories inspire all of us, but especially young Catholics. Now you may have heard of Carlo Acutis. Some people dub him, unofficially, of course, the patron saint of the Internet. But Pierre Giorgio Frassati may be a name you're not familiar with.

He was born on April '1, in Turin, Italy. His father was the founder of an influential newspaper in Italy, and his mother was a painter. They were a family of wealth and prominence. Despite his privileged upbringing, Pierre was drawn to simplicity, sneaking out as a teenager to serve the poor, often returning home muddy from visiting the slums. His agnostic parents were totally unaware what he was doing.

His love for the outdoors defined him. He was an avid mountaineer. He scaled the Alps with his friends, and he found God in nature's grandeur. He was also a very skilled swimmer and skier. He had a zest for life.

He was known more for his devotions than being some great academic. He went to Mass every day, and he joined the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He carried with him a rosary all the time. He was a physically strong young man, but there was a great spiritual depth. In 1918, he began studying mining engineering in Turin.

He had a desire to serve Jesus and bring him to the miners. He loved to laugh and was known for practical jokes that made him a very beloved figure. And interestingly, yet his private prayer life, hours spent in adoration, fueled his public acts of charity. Tragically, he contracted polio, likely from the very poor people he was serving, and died at 24 years old on 07/04/1925. His funeral drew thousands of people, revealing the extent of his hidden generosity to the destitute of Turin, Italy.

His charity was an example to us, to be hands on and sacrificial. His desire to serve the poor was shaped by his deep Eucharistic devotion and by Catholic social teaching. Perhaps he was greatly influenced by Pope Leo the thirteenth, who wrote a great deal about Catholic social teaching a few decades before. When Pierce's father offered him a car or money upon his engineering graduation, he chose the latter, giving it to the poor, including buying a bed for a tuberculosis survivor and aiding an evicted widow with shelter. He became involved with the Saint Vincent de Paul Society, and his generosity touched the lives of so many people.

Sixty six years after the death of Pier Giorgio Frassati, Carlo Acutis was born in London on 05/03/1991. His parents were Andrea and Antonio. Soon after his birth, they moved back to Milan, where his faith blossomed in a very secular environment. From age seven, he was going to daily Eucharistic adoration. His devotion astonished his very nominally Catholic parents, particularly his mother, who deepened her own faith by the example of her young child.

Carlo was a tech prodigy. He taught himself coding, creating websites, and editing videos. And his masterpiece was a digital archive of Eucharistic miracles that he put on the Internet when he was 11 years old. Despite the wealth of his family, young Carlo lived fairly simply. He's often seen in photographs and now artwork wearing casual jeans and sneakers and a red shirt.

Like Pier Giorgio before him, he used his money to help others, taking his allowance and buying sleeping bags for Milan's homeless. He too loved sports. He was an avid soccer player and a gamer. He also was known for coming to the defense of his classmates when they were bullied. But tragedy struck when Carlo was just 15 when he was diagnosed with leukemia.

He faced his illness with peace and serenity, and he died on 10/12/2006. In fact, next year will be the twentieth anniversary of his death. Carlo's digital apostolate harnessed those early Internet tools. Now it's relatively easy to put up a website for this or that. But when Carlo did it at 11 years old in 02/2002, it wasn't quite so easy.

11 years old, but he was driven by his faith to share the truth about the Eucharist and Eucharistic miracles. During his battle with leukemia, he offered his sufferings for the pope and the church, praying rosaries and attending mass from his hospital bed. His small acts of kindness, donating pocket money, teaching catechism, or cheering up his friends mirrored his larger mission. He showed us that holiness can permeate everyday life, even online. After his death, his website's global reach and two attributed miracles, including a Brazilian boy's healing from a pancreatic condition, cemented his path to sainthood.

And less than a month ago, his mother witnessed the universal one holy Catholic and apostolic church declare her son a canonized saint. The joint canonization ceremony of Pier Giorgio and Carlo on September 7 celebrated their distinct, but they're very complimentary paths with miracles underscoring the power of intercessory prayer. Pier Giorgio's second miracle that was required before the church declared him a saint involved healing a miner's family member, and we know the love he had for the mining community. They were beatified thirty years apart. Pier Giorgio beatified in 1990, one year before the birth of Carlo, and Carlo Acutis beatified by Pope Francis in 2020.

But the 2025 joint ceremony, you might say, symbolizes a bridge between eras. Two young men, both athletic, both full of love and life, and great devotion for Jesus, now inspire all of us, especially giving young Catholics relatable saints. We have the great saints of the church, which is such a treasure, Saint Jerome, Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas. But to a young teenager, these people might seem intimidating, the incredible depth of their work. With Pier Giorgio and Carlo, now canonized saints, many people see this.

These are very relatable saints for the very young, and this is a great blessing for the church. Their stories remind us that we can all use our time, talents, and treasure for the Lord. And we end by imploring their intercession. Saints Pier Giorgio Frasati and Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us. Thanks for listening to the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Parish podcast from Fort Lauderdale.

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