Today is July 16, Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike” (Mt 11:25).
When we think of holiness, we don’t usually picture inside jokes or playful nicknames. But that’s exactly the spirit Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati brought to his friendships. In 1924, he founded a group called the “Society of Shady Characters.” Their main activity? Climbing mountains. Their motto? “Few but good, like macaroni.” Their patron saint? A completely made-up figure: St. Petit of the Fools.
Yet beneath all the fun, Pier Giorgio’s friendships had a deeper aim. In a letter to one of his friends, he wrote, “Unfortunately, one by one earthly friendships produce sorrows in our heart because those whom we love become distant, but I should like us to swear a pact that knows no earthly boundaries or time limits: union in prayer.”
Climbing toward heaven
That’s a reminder for us today. Friendship, at its best, isn’t just about shared hobbies or laughs. It’s about helping one another climb not just mountains, but toward heaven.
When we pray for our friends, we carry them beyond the limits of distance and time. We form a bond that isn’t measured in years or even in words, but in grace.
So today, consider making your own quiet pact of prayer. Name the people you love — those close by and those far away — and commend them to God. Few but good, like macaroni.
Let us pray,
O God, who show the light of your truth to those who go astray, so that they may return to the right path, give all who for the faith they profess are accounted Christians the grace to reject whatever is contrary to the name of Christ and to strive after all that does it honor. 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.
