Imagine with me that you are in a pub in Turin, Italy in the early evening. The year is 1924. Across the room, you see several tables all occupied by young adults who are all obviously in the same group. They are laughing and drinking and having a good time. In the middle of this crowd is a young man with dark hair and striking black eyes. At the moment, he is holding court with several of the people from the group. He’s gesturing dramatically and making faces as he tells them a story. All of a sudden, the group bursts into laughter so intense that you see tears running down their cheeks. The young man in the middle is doubled over, he’s laughing so hard. As he slowly straightens up, one of the young men beside him leans into the ring leader with the dark hair and shows him a pocket watch. The one with the dark hair gives him a brief hug and then quickly excuses himself from the rest of the group. As he goes, the young man makes the sign of the cross and grabs a small package from the table in front of him. Then he is off, disappearing from the pub through a side door which leads to the alley outside.
Intrigued by what you just saw, you head over to the table to ask about the man who just left. You approach one of the young women in the group and say, “Who was that?” As you gesture towards the door. The young woman laughs and says, “That was Robspierre, the ringleader of the Sinister Ones Society!” When you give her a confused look, she puts a hand on your shoulder and says, “It’s a joke, that’s what we call ourselves, ‘The Sinister Ones.’ If the powerful ones think we have a plot against them, then why not embrace the names they call us!” Looking at the door to the alley, “That was Pierre Giorgio. He’s always running these secret errands and nobody really knows where he’s going, but he likes it that way. If you’re not in a hurry to leave, why don’t you join us?”
OK, so let’s keep that imaginative scene in mind. We will return to Pierre Giorgio in a moment. This Sunday Jesus gives us a glimpse into the inner life of God, a window into the blessedness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This comes as part of His final words given to the Apostles, His closest followers and friends, right before His Passion, death and resurrection. He is promising that the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father in His name, will remind them of everything He is telling them. The Spirit is able to do this because He is one God together with the Father and the Son. Brace yourselves, because I’m going to use a big, fancy theological term: circumincession. This term refers to the fact that because the Persons of the Trinity are always united in their Divine Nature, each of them equally God, whenever one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity acts, the others are mysteriously present, too. So, when Jesus is with the Apostles, the Father and the Holy Spirit are present in a mysterious way, as well.
Then, when the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, as Jesus refers to Him today, comes in a more dramatic way, we can know that He comes along with the Son and the Father, whom He makes mysteriously present. All of this is to say that when we come close to the Spirit, or the Father, or the Son, we are drawn into that Perfect Communion of Love who is the Trinity. Jesus says to them and to us: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” The peace Jesus offers is that of remaining in the embrace of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is nothing more secure, and being in that embrace brings abundant joy now and superabundant joy in the everlasting life to which Jesus draws us along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
The priest who preached at my first Mass almost ten years ago put it so beautifully. He said that the relationships which distinguish the Divine Persons of the Trinity allow for space. I can love my Father because I am not my Father, there is that “space” for relationship. So it is to an infinite degree in the Trinity. The Three Divine Persons are totally united in the One Godhead, but they have “space” for each other, in their relationships. And it is into that space that God, in His abundant love, has invited each of us. There is room for us in God!
So now let’s return to that imaginative scene in the Italian pub that we began with today. That young man at the center of the scene was none other than Blessed Pierre Giogrio Frassati, the patron of youth and young people. On Sunday, August 3rd, Blessed Pierre will be canonized and known as St. Pierre Giorgio Frassati. I think he is worthy for us to contemplate on this Sunday where Jesus invites us deeper into that embrace at the heart of the Trinity, because Blessed Pierre Giorgio knew that embrace well during his own life. He grew up in a powerful and wealthy family at the start of the twentieth century. His father was an agnostic and the editor of the influential Italian Newspaper, La Stampa. His mother was a painter and nominal Catholic. But from an early age, by the mysterious working of grace, Blessed Pierre Giorgio fell in love with Jesus and lived a life of abundant joy and Christian Charity. Pierre had a group of friends whom he was known to travel with. They looked to him as a leader and he often encouraged them and others to a deeper practice of their faith. Blessed Pierre was known to take time every day for prayer and reception of Jesus in the Eucharist. This was the lifeblood that fed his days. What most people did not know until after his death was that Blessed Pierre had a great love for the poor and would often visit the downtrodden to give them money, food and medicine. When he died at the age of 24, thousands of people from all over Turin showed up to his funeral, many of whom had been directly served by him.
Blessed Pierre reveals to us what can happen to each of our hearts if we allow them to be captured by the love of the Trinity. Some people might think that the life of faith would be boring, but saints like Blessed Pierre Giorgio Frassati show us the reality. Blessed Pierre was a normal young man. He loved laughing, pulling pranks on his friends and enjoying life together with them. His joy was infectious and drew other people in. This joy gave him the opportunity to speak to his friends about his faith and encourage them to embrace the Lord. Without being showy about it, Blessed Pierre gave priority to the Eucharist and allowed his encounters with Jesus in the Eucharist to fuel his service to those in need around him. By knowing the embrace of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in Holy Communion, Blessed Pierre was fired up to have a welcoming and all-embracing heart for his family, friends and the poor. Knowing that love of God which brings the peace of His embrace, Blessed Pierre spread that peace with enthusiasm and joy.
I leave you with the words of Blessed Pierre Giorgio himself, given to his friends and fellow young people in a Catholic organization in Pollone, Italy:
“…remembering that apostle of the Holy Eucharist, the Holy Father Pius X of venerable memory, I urge you with all the strength of my soul to approach the Eucharistic Table as often as possible. Feed on this Bread of the Angels from which you will draw the strength to fight inner struggles, the struggles against passions and against all adversities, because Jesus Christ has promised to those who feed themselves with the most Holy Eucharist, eternal life and the necessary graces to obtain it.
And when you become totally consumed by this Eucharistic Fire, then you will be able to thank with greater awareness the Lord God who has called you to be part of His flock and you will enjoy that peace which those who are happy according to the world have never tasted. Because true happiness, young people, does not consist in the pleasures of the world and in earthly things, but in peace of conscience which we can have only if we are pure in heart and in mind.”
Blessed Pierre Giorgio Frassati, pray for us!
+ Heavenly Father, thank you for the all consuming love which you invite us into through your Son and in the Spirit. Jesus, thank you for feeding us with that love and inviting us to Heavenly peace in the Eucharist. Holy Spirit, open our hearts to embrace Jesus in the Eucharist so that we might extend His loving embrace to others in our lives. We ask this through Christ, our risen Lord. Amen. +