Today is July 30, Wednesday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Mt 13:44).
When we discover a real treasure, it changes everything. That’s what today’s Gospel tells us. Once we find the kingdom of heaven, nothing else matters in the same way.
Throughout this past month reflecting on Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, we’ve seen how his life embodied that truth. Pier Giorgio found his treasure in Christ and gave everything for it — not by leaving the world behind, but by embracing it fully with faith, service and joy.
‘A response to Jesus’
Pier Giorgio’s witness isn’t meant to stay in history books or behind stained glass. He’s meant to become a friend for us on the way to heaven. That’s what the saints are: not just examples to admire but companions for the journey.
Pope St. John Paul II once said Pier Giorgio’s life is “a response to Jesus.” That response continues today. Through his intercession and his example, Pier Giorgio helps us turn our lives toward Christ, to seek the heights — verso l’alto — not just with effort, but with friendship and joy.
Today, let us ask, who are the friends in heaven I am walking with? And how can I let their example shape my steps toward Christ?
Let us pray,
O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. 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.
