Blessed Frassati a 'perfect' fit for World Youth Day play

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Jul 24, 2013 / 10:21 am

After being contacted by World Youth Day officials to perform a play going along with this year's theme, a theater group decided they would have to write and produce their own on Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati.

"(Bl. Frassati's) life is a perfect example for today's youth, especially those that believe that living according to the world is the only logic that exists," the play's director, Marcelo Rodriguez, told CNA July 23.

The play, "The Logic of God" was born from months of research and development on the part of Peruvian theater group, Teatro Convivio, after they were asked to find and perform a play that would go along with this year's theme of Mt. 28:19, "Go and make disciples of all nations."

When they could not find such a play to perform, Rodriguez said, they decided would have to produce one of their own.

After a friend introduced Rodriguez and his team to the life of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, the young Italian layman who spent much of his short life serving the poor and working for social reform, the director knew he was a perfect fit.

According to Rodriguez, the title, "The Logic of God" is the way that Frassati lived his devout life of holiness.

 "It is simple, but demanding. The exigency is almost forgotten because of the joy and happiness that comes from following God's logic."

The example of Bl. Frassati's life is one that communicates that "holiness does not have to be something that is foreign."

"It is just living according to God – not according to the world," Rodriguez said.

Bl. Pior Giorgio Frassati was born to a wealthy Italian ambassador at the turn of the twentieth century. Although he died at the age of 24 of polio, Bl. Frassati spent much of his short life leading others to Christ and spreading Catholic social teaching strongly shaped by Pope Leo XIII's encyclical, "Rerum Novarum."

Teatro Convivio was born out of the commitment of Peruvian youth to change the world through theatrical art. Although that seems to be an overwhelming goal, Rodriguez says that "even the changing of one heart" through their theatrical productions works to change the world.

The play will have a free special showing at the WYD Vocations Fair today, Wednesday, July 24, 2013.