23 Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saints are not distant figures from the past but people who lived ordinary lives, even enjoying things like video games and mountain climbing, while keeping Christ at the center. Jesus calls us to root our identity not in family, career, or possessions, but in being his disciples through baptism and the cross. Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis show us how a life grounded in Christ gives meaning and direction to everything else.
Listen to homily here:
Can a saint play video games? What do you think?
Believe it or not, the answer is yes, a saint can play video games. Let me explain.
Very soon in the Vatican, a canonization will take place. A canonization is a joyful Mass where the Pope declares someone a saint. When I studied in Rome years ago, I was able to attend a couple of canonizations in St. Peter’s Square. They are truly international celebrations: pilgrims from all over the world gather, and enormous banners with the faces of the new saints hang from the façade of the basilica.
Often those faces look like they belong to a distant time. Their clothing is unfamiliar, their lives far removed from ours. But the two people soon to be canonized feel much closer to us.
The first is Pier Giorgio Frassati, who died in 1925 at just 24 years old. Photos show him in a suit, smiling broadly, climbing mountains with friends. The second is Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 and is becoming known as the first millennial saint. And yes, Carlo loved playing video games. So very soon, the Church will officially declare that saints can indeed play video games.
Today’s Gospel, however, is not lighthearted. Jesus speaks with striking words: “Unless you hate father and mother… unless you give up all your possessions… you cannot be my disciple.” At first hearing, this is hard. Surely Jesus is not commanding hatred or absolute renunciation for everyone.
What he is doing is forcing us to ask: Where do we root our identity? What is the true foundation of our lives?
In Jesus’ time, family determined everything: your status, your future, even your destiny. Wealth and possessions carried enormous weight too. And still today, we can base our whole identity on family, career, education, or possessions. These are important, but they are fragile. Families face conflict. Jobs can be lost. Health can fail. If our entire identity rests on these, what happens when they crumble?
Jesus insists: our true identity must be rooted in being his disciple. The foundation of our lives is the cross. Our baptism, being reborn as children of God, defines us more deeply than even the day of our natural birth.
This is where our soon-to-be saints can teach us.
Pier Giorgio Frassati was born into privilege in Turin. Yet he quietly poured out his time, money, and energy for the poor. Many only discovered the extent of his service at his funeral, when the poor of the city filled the church. He loved his friends and outdoor adventures, but always used those relationships to draw people toward Christ. His life shows us how to place Christ at the center, letting that relationship guide everything else.
Carlo Acutis grew up in our world of internet, technology, and video games. But at the heart of his life was a profound love for Jesus in the Eucharist and for Our Lady. He used the internet creatively, building a website to spread devotion to the Eucharist. He had many friends, but his choices and creativity all flowed from his identity as a disciple of Christ.
So yes, a saint can play video games. A saint can climb mountains, study, work, have friends, even enjoy modern technology. But what makes them saints is that they rooted their identity in Christ.
Today, we are challenged to ask: What is most important about my identity? What is my foundation? Family, education, career, possessions, all are good gifts. But only when our lives are rooted in Christ do these find their true place.
By baptism, we are disciples. Our foundation is the cross. Let us pray through the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio and Blessed Carlo that we too may live joyfully as followers of Jesus, disciples whose identity is secure no matter what comes.
