Friends, Family, Community Gather to Remember Xavier Teen Greg Friscia

It was standing room only as hundreds packed inside Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Palm Desert Wednesday to pay their final respects to a local teenager who died this week.

An estimated 1,600 people gathered in the church, hundreds of them teens who knew 17-year-old Greg Friscia or had been touched by him in some way.   The crowd, a sea of purple for the color of Greg's 'house' at school.

"You are forever loved and forever in our hearts," friend Riley Nelson said during his eulogy, while flanked by a group of friends.  His was one of four speakers to offer up their fondest memories for the Friscia family and friends in attendance.

"It is a well known fact that Greg Fricia was going to change the world someday," Nelson said.  "Although his time here was tragically cut short, he lives vicariously through you and through me."

Friscia, a senior at Xavier College Preparatory High School died Sunday after spending a week in a medically-induced coma following a skateboarding crash in Palm Springs on March 17.

Wednesday, he was remembered for his hard-working demeanor, his ambitions for the future, and his "heart-breaker smile."  

'God's heart was the first to break'

"Why did this happen?" Father Howard Lincoln, who presided over Wednesday's service, rhetorically asked the many youth in attendance.

Though he said he can't offer up that answer, he did say "never, never, never can we say that somehow Greg's accident was within the cosmic plan of God."

"The one thing I believe we should never say when someone dies is this; turn to them and say that 'somehow this is the will of God'... I do not believe we can do that, because I don't believe that we ever know enough to say that," Lincoln said. 

"Our consolation is knowing that it is not the will of God that Greg should die, and that when Greg left that skateboard, God's heart was the first to break."

Lincoln, who said this was the largest service he's been a part of in the dozen year's he's worked in the Valley, visited the teen in the hospital and spoke about the tremendous support from the community.

He spoke to the congregation about the hope that can arise from this situation in the many acts of love shown.

"Where was God when Greg was in that bed?" the priest asked. "God was in all the health professionals who did  their very best for Greg.  God was incarnate in everyone and everything that worked towards Greg's recovery.  God was in the extraordinary response that was evoked from family and friends, and God was in the hearts of Greg's parents and brother and in the kids who took over room 3131.

"When Greg died, God was there, for when Greg died, he fell into the arms of God."

Youth Remember Their Friend

Xavier Principal Chris Alling also spoke to the youth in attendance, and at one point asked those under 20 to stand.  As hundreds rose to their feet, the principal thanked them for their support.

"You set my heart on fire, you give me great hope," Alling said to the younger generation.  "You give me great hope, I think you give all of us great hope.  I think everything that was said today by the people who got up here about carrying Greg out of this place, I hope all of you young people, I hope your hearts stir, and I hope you feel your heart swelling.  I hope you walk out of this church today hungry and ready to do good work."

Alling said that during the last week at the hospital, kids from all over the Valley visited Greg, who had a well-rounded high school life to back up his 4.2 GPA.

He was a member of the swim and water polo teams, as well as an Eagle Scout, according to those who spoke of their friend and classmate.

Alling tells Patch that students were given the day off of class, and that most of the school was at the service.  He was most impressed, though, with how much the support stretched beyond the boundaries of Xavier's 530 students.

"This is a kid was 17, and 1,600 people showed up to support his family and say goodbye to this kid," he said.  "It just gives me a lot of hope."

And that's a sentiment that Greg's friend, Riley Nelson, seemed to echo in his part of the eulogy:

"After all that Greg did for us, it is our duty to go forth, and be the change in the world that Greg was going to be.  He may be gone, but the impact he left on the community will forever exist."

[RELATED: Fundraising Plans for Scholarship in Honor of Xavier Prep Teen]