Today is July 23, Wednesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear” (Mt 13:7-8).
Jesus reminds us that the seed of God’s Word bears fruit only in rich soil. What does such soil look like? It looks like a heart made ready to serve, even in suffering.
That kind of heart was given to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. On the final day of his life, July 3, 1925, Pier Giorgio was confined to his bed, dying of polio. Many believe he contracted the disease while serving the sick in poor neighborhoods. He was otherwise strong and healthy, a mountain climber and athlete. Yet it was this hidden charity that shaped the final chapter of his life.
A life given over to God
Even then, Pier Giorgio did not think of himself. On that Friday, the day he normally visited families in need, he asked his sister to deliver medicine and assistance to the poor in his place. His final thoughts were not about his own suffering but about the mission he had embraced.
This is the fruit Jesus speaks of in today’s Gospel: a life so given over to God that even in weakness or death, it keeps bearing love.
Today, let us ask for the same grace, that our hearts may become rich soil, ready to serve others in every circumstance.
Let us pray,
Show favor, O Lord, to your servants and mercifully increase the gifts of your grace, that, made fervent in hope, faith and charity, they may be ever watchful in keeping your commands. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
