“The influence that friends exert over one another as teenagers is clearly powerful and, far too often, undesirable.”
That statement, taken from a 2011 article on the website of the Los Angeles Times, points to a problem that was certainly present 14 years ago when the article was written, but has only worsened in recent years, fueled in part by the use (and misuse) of social media.
Parents are sometimes perplexed as to how to respond when their children are being negatively influenced by their peers. They’re even confused about how to pray for their children in such circumstances—when they’re drifting away from Jesus and the Church and are beginning to compromise their previously solid morals.
But if friends are a big part of the problem, then it stands to reason that friends can also be part of the solution. That’s why one of the most important prayers that parents should say for their children daily (and perhaps even multiple times every day!) is the prayer that their children get good friends—loving friends—morally upright friends—good Catholic friends who take their faith seriously. That can make a huge difference. Teens with solid Catholic friends experience what might be called “reverse peer pressure.” Rather than experiencing from their peers the pressure to reject God and do evil, they experience the pressure to say yes to the Lord and do good.
And it’s also very helpful in this regard to have good Catholic friends in high places—which is precisely what the saints are. Our two recently canonized saints, St. Pier Giorgio Frassati and St. Carlo Acutis, were both young when the Lord called them home to himself. Both are relatable to the youth of today—especially Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), whose proficiency using computers led him to develop a website on Eucharistic miracles, which has been turned into an exhibit that has been taken all over the world—even here to our own state of Rhode Island. In an age when many young people (as well as many not-so-young people) regularly use the internet to access pornography and to engage in cyberbullying and other uncharitable exchanges, St. Carlo Acutis shines brightly as a normal teenager who always used the internet for good and never for evil. As Pope Leo XIV said during his homily at the new saint’s canonization Mass, Carlo Acutis “grew up naturally integrating prayer, sport, study and charity into his days as a child and young man.”
Catholic parents—especially those who are concerned about the earthly friendships their sons and daughters are currently developing—should make every effort to help their children get to know these two new saints and develop “heavenly friendships” with them. Carlo’s mother expressed it beautifully in an August 20 interview. There she said, “Both Carlo and Pier Giorgio shared a love for the Eucharist, a love for the poor, and a love for the Virgin Mary. I think that these two are models that we need in this particular moment for the young people of today.”
Pop culture continually gives young people the message that holiness isn’t possible for them and that they can’t do great things for God and the Church in their young lives. But that’s not true! Saints Carlo and Pier Giorgio make it clear—they make it crystal clear—that holiness and doing the will of God are possible for anyone at any age. We should therefore encourage all the young people we know to have devotion to these two new saints. And, while we’re at it, we should also develop a strong devotion to them ourselves.
St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us.
