As a co-founder of Minnesota’s Frassati Society in 2002, Jen Messing said the group was created to follow in the footsteps of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who lived in Turin, Italy, from 1901-1925. She said his pastimes included hiking and rock climbing, playing sports, going to museums, operas and other cultural events — and serving the poor and adoring Jesus in the Eucharist.
He also was a prankster, Messing said, and enjoyed a diverse range of activities.
Jen Messing
“So, we decided (the society) would be a fun way to draw friendship out of the people around us,” she said, “but also trying to find camaraderie as far as the other single young adults that were around us — trying to connect via some activity and infuse that time with prayer because we recognize that our faith is important to us.”
Messing and Katelyn Filbrandt, the society’s president, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to describe the Frassati Society in Minnesota and its activities.
Messing said the activities are fun, but it’s also nice to be with people of common faith, to connect on multiple levels.
Based in the Twin Cities, the group offers friendship as well as time alone with God, Messing said.
Sometimes, she said, people who signed up to participate in an activity “seemed like a really random group of people, and then you would find this very common ground of faith and laughter and good conversation that sprung from enjoying the same things that Pier Giorgio did, and also integrating that whole time together with prayer.”
Many of the group’s activities are outdoors. The next outing is a week in the Boundary Waters, July 30 to Aug. 7. Others are decidedly indoor.
Filbrandt said she joined the Frassati Society when she moved to the Twin Cities. “I was looking for young Catholic things to do and to get involved with other people,” she said. For her first event, the group went to adoration and then to a pub afterward.
Katelyn Fillbrandt
“After that, I fell in love with the outdoors and events that the Frassati Society put on,” she said.
She also participates in Bible study gatherings. A new event called “A Journey Through Church History” starts July 29, meeting weekly through Dec. 23.
“And we have a Frassati Night, which is the spiritual aspect of our group that we plan events around,” Filbrandt said. On July 27, the group will attend eucharistic adoration, followed by fellowship at a brewery.
Giving the example of a weekend camping trip, Messing said that an earmark of the group’s gatherings is conversation and humor that comes very naturally, especially with people from such diverse work backgrounds and ages. She said the group started praying for good conversation and humor because they didn’t want to take it for granted.
“It did seem like it was a bit of a charism, if you will, of the group that this camaraderie would happen,” Messing said. “And if you see pictures of Pier Giorgio, his laughter and (being) surrounded by friends, it just seemed like his presence was very real.”
To learn more, visit FrassatiSocietyMN.org. To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It airs at 9 p.m. July 16, 1 p.m. July 17 and 2 p.m. July 18 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Kelly Naas and Steve Walker, who describe what teens across the country are doing this summer at Catholic HEART Workcamp, and Bishop Peter Smith from the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, who will preview his talk about surrendering to the Lord at an upcoming Summer Speaker Series hosted by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired at:
soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic
tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic (Spotify)
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