A Dangerous Age In the Life of a Man

When we hear of the "most dangerous age", we often picture teenagers who are programmed to take risks such as gambling or taking narcotic drugs. Other won't leave out from this scene, youths engaged in unhealthy relationships with the opposite sex.
The youngman in the picture above is  Piers Giorgio Frassati (6 April 1901 - 4 July 1925). He was an Italian Roman Catholic social activist and a member of the third order of St. Dominic. Frassati was dedicated to Social Justice issues and joined several charitable organizations to better aid the poor and less fortunate living in his hometown Turin; he puts his own pious beliefs into practice to cater to their needs and was best known for his devotedness and his amiable character. He died aged 24. His body was found incorrupt almost after eight decades.
Taking a closer look at his life, we will realize that the youthful phase in the life of a man is actually not the dangerous age; there is no age more dangerous than the period at which a man becomes inaccessible to fresh ideas and impervious to enthusiasm. He puts up his intellectual shutters and makes a truce with the world. This dangerous age sets in about 40 or 45, and often lasts till 60. At this age, he accepts things as incurable, and just settles down in his groove trying to save his own soul or pick up a few pieces out of the social wreckage.
On this topic, Rev. Charles Plater S.J. wrote:
At the dangerous age a man will say to his nephew: "Ah, my dear boy, I thought the same when I was young. I had ambitions and a crusading spirit. But it was no use. Crime injustice and class hatred and destitution and degrading poverty and commercial dishonesty - they are all rampant and can't be slain. I'm twice your age; now, which of us ought to know better."
The young man who crusades for a better life treads on the right path. For when we look at young men like Giorgio Frassati or groups of lay Catholics such as Catholic Action, we will understand that life, to the Catholic young man of strong faith and generous sympathies, is not a weary battle of insuperable foes, but a stirring crusade against evils which can be conquered. He is strong because he borrows strength from God. Therefore, the dangerous age is not a mere matter of years, but a frame of mind. It is not inevitable. Just as a man may be a cynic and pessimistic at 21, so a man may be a may be a youth and an optimist at 50. It is largely a matter of will.
Be Virtuous ... Be a Traditional Catholic.