YOUNG CATHOLICS are called to pursue sainthood by living ordinary life with extraordinary love, former UST Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. said during a Mass marking the first anniversary of the canonization of Saints Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati on Monday, Sept. 7.
Cabading said the lives of Acutis and Frassati showed that holiness did not require Catholics to imitate others but to fulfill the unique mission given to each person.
“We are all born into this world with a special soul, a divine fingerprint, a mission that no one else in the world can ever fulfill. We are all different indeed, in every way. There is no one like us,” he said.
Cabading said Acutis sought to turn every keystroke and click toward the glory of God.
“Our friend Carlo knew that holiness was not for big gestures for priests and religious alone. It is about the common school, the family, friendship transformed by love,” he said.
Frassati, meanwhile, demonstrated a form of charity that went beyond giving material things by giving himself entirely to others, Cabading said.
“Our friends, Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially the young to not to waste our lives but to lift them up and make them masterpieces molded by the hands of the Creator,” he said.
Cabading urged the faithful to pursue holiness by living their daily lives with extraordinary love rooted in the Eucharist.
“We are meant to be great. We are summoned to saintliness. Let us not waste our life but point it upward,” he said.
Frassati, described by Pope John Paul II as the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes,” dedicated his early life to prayer and service.
At 17, he joined the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help the poor and needy, care for orphans and nurse soldiers returning from World War I.
Acutis, regarded as the first millennial saint, was known for his devotion to the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary from a young age.
He received his first Communion at age 7 and volunteered to help people in need, particularly children and the elderly. He was also skilled in computers and programming.
Acutis and Frassati were canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7, 2025 at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
