“To the heights!” scribbled Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati onto an old photograph nearly 100 years ago. It was not a call to action but rather a call to authentically orient our lives towards God. He could have used a verb, but instead chose a preposition, which shows not movement, but direction. Which way are we facing? Are we ordering our lives according to meaning? What are we tending towards? Frassati’s phrase reminds us that, especially in the midst of our climbing culture—with each person hollowly trying to out-accomplish the person striving next to them, that anything but authentically tending towards the Lord is simply just the art of scraping by. As Christians, our summit comes when we reach God after we’ve spent our whole lives climbing towards Him, this is the true elevation of the heart. He is the apex of our lives and so we must always orient ourselves “Verso L’Alto!”

For a more full explanation of “Verso L’alto” check out thosecatholicmen.com/articles/the-true-meaning-of-verso-lalto/

For a biography on the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati please go to http://www.bettnet.com/frassati/