Today is July 26, Memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We read at today’s Mass, “If you pull up the weed, you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest; then at harvest time I will say to the harvesters, ‘First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles for burning; but gather the wheat into my barn'” (Mt 13:29-30).
In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that there is a time for judgment and that time belongs to God. For now, the wheat and the weeds grow together. Holiness and struggle exist side by side.
As we conclude this month reflecting on the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, that image feels especially fitting. Pier Giorgio’s life was not a postcard version of sainthood. It was marked by joys and friendships, yes, but also by effort and interior struggle.
Preparing ‘ourselves to be ready’
If you want to know the real Pier Giorgio, read his letters. In them, his personality shines — his humor, his love for the Church and his awareness of the battle that is Christian life. He once wrote, “We, who by the grace of God are Catholics, must not squander the best years of our lives… We must prepare ourselves to be ready, to be able to handle the struggles we will have to endure to fulfill our goals, and in so doing, give our country happier and morally healthier days.”
That isn’t the voice of a saint for stained-glass windows alone. That is the voice of someone striving in real life, in real time. The same is true for each of us. Holiness does not mean life without struggle. It means choosing Christ, again and again, even as the weeds grow alongside the wheat.
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.
