September 9, 2025 // National

New Saints ‘an Invitation to All of Us … Not to Squander Our Lives’

OSV NEWS

Pope Leo’s Homily for the Canonization Mass for Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati

This is the text from Pope Leo XIV’s homily for the canonization Mass for St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, given on Sunday, September 7, in St. Peter’s Square.

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the first reading, we heard a question: (Lord,) “who has learned your counsel, unless you have given wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from on high?” This question comes after two young Blesseds, Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis, were proclaimed saints, and this is providential because in the Book of Wisdom, this question is attributed to a young man like them: King Solomon.

Upon the death of his father, David, he realized that he had many things: power, wealth, health, youth, beauty, and the entire kingdom. It was precisely this great abundance of resources that raised a question in his heart: “What must I do so that nothing is lost?” Solomon understood that the only way to find an answer was to ask God for an even greater gift, that of his wisdom, so that he might know God’s plans and follow them faithfully. He realized, in fact, that only in this way would everything find its place in the Lord’s great plan. Yes, because the greatest risk in life is to waste it outside of God’s plan.

Jesus, too, in the Gospel, speaks to us of a plan to which we must commit wholeheartedly. He says, “Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple,” and again, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” … 

Many young people, throughout the centuries, have had to face this crossroad in their lives. Think of St. Francis of Assisi. Like Solomon, he, too, was young and rich, thirsty for glory and fame. … Coming to his senses, he asked God a simple question: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” From there, he changed his life and began to write a different story: the wonderful story of holiness that we all know. …

How many similar saints we could recall! Sometimes we portray them as great figures, forgetting that, for them, it all began when, while still young, they said “yes” to God and gave themselves to Him completely, keeping nothing for themselves. …

In this setting, today we look to St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis: a young man from the early 20th century and a teenager from our own day, both in love with Jesus and ready to give everything for Him.

Pier Giorgio encountered the Lord through school and church groups … and he bore witness to God with his joy of living and of being a Christian in prayer, friendship, and charity. … Even today, Pier Giorgio’s life is a beacon for lay spirituality. For him, faith was not a private devotion, but it was driven by the power of the Gospel and his membership in ecclesial associations.

Carlo, for his part, encountered Jesus in his family, thanks to his parents, Andrea and Antonia – who are here today with his two siblings, Francesca and Michele – and then at school, and above all in the sacraments celebrated in the parish community. He grew up naturally integrating prayer, sport, study, and charity into his days as a child and young man.

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims from the popemobile at the end of the canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 7, 2025. Banners with the official portraits of the newly canonized Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis hang from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Both Pier Giorgio and Carlo cultivated their love for God and for their brothers and sisters through simple acts, available to everyone: daily Mass, prayer, and especially Eucharistic adoration. Carlo used to say: “In front of the sun, you get a tan. In front of the Eucharist, you become a saint!” And again: “Sadness is looking at yourself; happiness is looking at God. Conversion is nothing more than shifting your gaze from below to above; a simple movement of the eyes is enough.”

Another essential practice for them was frequent confession. Carlo wrote, “The only thing we really have to fear is sin;” and he marveled because – in his own words – “people are so concerned with the beauty of their bodies and do not care about the beauty of their souls.”

Finally, both had a great devotion to the saints and to the Virgin Mary, and they practiced charity generously. Pier Giorgio said, “Around the poor and the sick, I see a light that we do not have.” He called charity “the foundation of our religion,” and, like Carlo, he practiced it above all through small, concrete gestures, often hidden, living what Pope Francis called “a holiness found in our next-door neighbors.”

Even when illness struck them and cut short their young lives, not even this stopped them nor prevented them from loving, offering themselves to God, blessing Him and praying to Him for themselves and for everyone. In his last photo, which shows him climbing a mountain in the Val di Lanzo, with his face turned toward his goal, he wrote: “Upwards.” …

Dear friends, Sts. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upwards and make them masterpieces. They encourage us with their words: “Not I, but God,” as Carlo used to say. And Pier Giorgio: “If you have God at the center of all your actions, then you will reach the end.” This is the simple but winning formula of their holiness. It is also the type of witness we are called to follow, in order to enjoy life to the full and meet the Lord in the feast of heaven.