My family wasn’t one that normally listened to Catholic talks growing up. On road trips, the vocal musings of Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and Bon Jovi were what we would listen to if our parents told us we needed to take a break from watching episodes of Scooby-Doo. This all took a slight change in the fall of 2012, when I was beginning my journey through my parish’s confirmation program.

I was told well ahead of time that I would need to choose a saint with whom I had a particular affinity, and I began my search in the gathering area of our church at the Lighthouse Catholic display. There, I grabbed CDs on the lives of various saints, subsequently asked my parents to pay for them (in keeping with Lighthouse’s donation model), and then brought them along for our upcoming family vacation to Lake Michigan. While all of the talks we listened to were fantastic, there was one presentation that seized my imagination: “Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: Man of the Beatitudes” by Father Tim Deeter.

Up until this point in my life, the saints had always felt otherworldly and distant. The theological prowess of St. Thomas Aquinas was intimidating and difficult to grasp, and the radical poverty of St. Francis of Assisi frightened me greatly. It was never made clear to me that I was called to be a saint, and I viewed the saints in heaven as members of an exclusive club for those who did things I could never do.

But now, sitting in the back of my parents' Suburban driving home from the beach, I encountered a young man who both loved the Lord and his family, enjoyed hiking and playing pool with his friends, served the poor, and had a sense of adventure that captured my young heart. There was an ordinariness about him that made him so relatable and made his saintly qualities seem both attractive and attainable. I knew in that moment that I had found the saint whose name I was to take at my confirmation the following spring.

Pier Giorgio’s love for the Eucharist was the first of his qualities that inspired me. He once encouraged his friends by saying, “I urge you with all the strength of my soul to approach the Eucharist Table as often as possible. Feed on this Bread of the Angels from which you will draw the strength to fight inner struggles.” It had never been my custom to attend daily Mass, but I soon began attending the 7 a.m. Mass each Wednesday before school with a classmate of mine. It became a staple of my week that I found myself looking forward to.

This devotion to the Eucharist would continue to blossom in my heart throughout my collegiate journey. However, during my freshman year, I found it difficult to grow in my Catholic faith. I was attending a Bible study and Sunday Mass and had begun my studies in theology. But it was only after a FOCUS missionary invited me to come with him to adoration that I finally had an encounter with our Eucharistic Lord that I had been searching for. I began attending daily Mass as frequently as my class schedule would allow and frequenting Eucharistic adoration each week. Near the end of my senior year, I began the practice of making a daily Holy Hour that I have continued to this day.

As I grew in my faith throughout college, I began to more intentionally examine the life of Pier Giorgio and my own. I had grown in my love for my faith, my friends, the arts and the outdoors. It became apparent to me, however, that I needed to grow in sharing the love of Christ with others.

Pier Giorgio once said, “Modern society is drowning in the sorrows of human passions and it is distancing itself from every ideal of love and peace. Catholics ... must bring the breath of goodness that can only spring from faith in Christ.”

Here, he makes clear our universal call to evangelize. It was from this desire to share the life-giving news of the Gospel that I not only began to lead a Bible study with my peers, but would be inspired to become a FOCUS missionary.

As I head into my eighth year as a FOCUS missionary at Black Hills State University, Pier Giorgio continues to inspire me as I grow in my love for Christ and those around me.

This young saint is most well-known for writing Verso L’alto, which means, “to the heights.” It has become a personal mantra for me as I continue to set my sights towards heaven.

Furthermore, I’ve recently been praying with St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who encourages us to ascend the mountain of God by the valley of humility. This idea of verso l’alto by the valley of humility has been the source of abundant fruit for me for many months now.

Now, as his canonization day draws near, I’m humbled to be traveling to Rome to attend this momentous occasion for a young man whose example has been instrumental in my own formation of what it means to be a Catholic man.

Pier Giorgio Frassati’s canonization is a further indication of his heroic sanctity, and I suspect he will continue to inspire men and women throughout the world until the second coming of our Blessed Lord.

Andrew Noah is a FOCUS missionary at Black Hills State University.