The Glorious Freedom of the Sons of God

Today, July 4, the United States of America celebrate their self-rule, their ability to grow and flourish as a single country with a common source and goal. In a word, we celebrate our freedom. What a happy coincidence, then, that our own Independence Day occurs on the same day as the feast of that glorious man of freedom, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati. Bl. Pier Giorgio (1901-1925), was many things: the life of the party, a joy to be around, a constant man of prayer, a fanatical hiker and mountain climber, a dilettantish student, a devoted family man in a troubled home, a benefactor of the poor, and a man of sacrifice. In a word, he was free. Whatever he did in life, he did so as to discover the face of Jesus Christ and to make him known. In this, he was radically free: free of the inhibiting bonds of sin, personal, social, and familial, desiring at all times to act out of the pure love of God. In this way, Bl. Pier Giorgio is a constant reminder of the primacy of God’s love and grace in our lives, at the level of my own soul, my interaction with others around me, and with the society in which I dwell. On this day when we commemorate our country’s coming into being, we do well to give thanks to God for the countless blessings he has given us through the centuries and at the present moment, and to examine our hearts for the wounds of pride, self-obsession, anger, jealousy, and whatever else may hold us captive. Bl. Pier Giorgio, model of the “glorious freedom of the sons of God” (Rm 8:21), pray of us and for our country!