Have you ever scoffed at the wayward youth who rebels against society's expectations? Shaken your head at the woman who seems too independent? Or given a derisive snort at the handsome young rich kid who was carousing with his friends?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you may have overlooked one of the Lord's chosen saints.

Pier Giorgio Frassati was born to a wealthy Italian ambassador to Germany. He expected great things out of his son but God had other plans for Giorgio. His greatness would come not from the measurement of wealth and status, but from his wondrously kind deeds.

Once, following a reception at the embassy, the flowers that decorated the tables mysteriously disappeared. It turns out that Italy's Catholic Robin Hood had taken them to adorn a coffin. Yet it wasn't the coffin of one of the rich and influential people who surrounded the Frassati family. It was the coffin of a poor person!

When asked how he could stand to be around the stinky, filthy poor, the son of Italy's third most influential family smiled and answered, "All around the sick and all around the poor I see a special light that we do not have." Pier Giorgio saw Christ in them.

This handsome and charismatic young man did many unlikely things. He visited the mentally ill, brought medicine to the dying, transported the belongings of the evicted, and used his own bus fare to buy bread for the hungry. Then, when he was done with his work for the day, he went home on foot -- running so he wouldn't be late for supper.

At mealtime the family would sit around the table waiting for Pier Giorgio. They would hear him slide down the stairs and land with a thump on the floor outside the dining room door. There would be a pause... and then Giorgio would walk in. It was during that pause that he was saying grace because his father was an atheist!

Pier Giorgio was a mountain climber, a championship skier, and a teenager who taught his horse to genuflect whenever it passed a church. He loved the mountains most because he felt it was the one place on earth where he could come closest to being with God in all of His majesty.

He liked to play pool/billiards and would often challenge his friends. If the friend won, Giorgio would pay them but if they lost then they had to accompany Pier Giorgio to the mountains to pray and fast for the Lord. He was a man with an iron will devoted to saving souls.

Once, with the temperature twelve degrees below zero, Pier Giorgio gave his overcoat to a poor man shivering in the cold. When his agnostic father scolded him, he replied matter of factly, "But you see, Papa, it was cold." For his graduation his parents gave him the choice of a car or money. He took the money -- and then gave it all away to the poor.

By the age of twenty-one, Pier Giorgio was personally supporting over 125 poor families. He was tough. He was handsome. And, man-oh-man, was he Catholic! Pope John Paul calls him the "Man of the Eight Beatitudes," for his exhibiting of the beatitudes and virtues is an incredible model for all of us striving to live holier lives.

Pier Giorgio was also a practical joker. It is fitting that one named Pier was also the leader of his peers. He formed them into a group devoted to faith and service, mountain climbing, joy and laughter -- all for the Lord. He called them the "Sinister Ones." Their motto was, "Pochi ma buoni come macaroni," which is Italian for "The Few, the Proud, the Macaroni."

Giorgio was serious about leading a high-octane life but he was also chaste and holy. He would actually sneak out of the house at night so that he could climb a mountain to attend Mass at the mountain's chapel. What kind of life would we lead if we had to sneak out of the house for the Bread of Life?

He was also a con artist. He would trick his friends into accompanying him to Adoration. Along the way, they would cut up and fill the streets with their youthful enthusiasm. Pier Giorgio took the propensity for youthful rebellion and baptized it, making it something pleasing to God. This is why Pope John Paul made him the patron saint of World Youth Days.

We must realize that the iron will of a Catholic enables us to engage the world and conquer it in the most extraordinary and unexpected ways. We can do great things with youthful enthusiasm for the Lord. Our life is meant to be a joyful and meaningful journey.

The Lord left us many great instructions in His Holy Word, the Ten Commandments, and the Eight Beatitudes. But He also blessed us with living breathing examples of every aspect of love, devotion, mortification, and service.

When have you served God in an unusual way? Do you know others who do so?
What are you willing to do to make your will stronger for your faith?
When was the last time you laughed with God?

Which of the following eight beatitudes do you most need help with?

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.