Today is July 24, Thursday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt 13:16).
When Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati died on July 4, 1925, it seemed at first like a quiet passing. He was the son of a prominent political figure, so many attended his funeral out of respect for his family. But something unexpected happened.
Alongside politicians and journalists, there gathered a great crowd: workers, the poor, people from Turin’s industrial districts, and many the Frassati family had never met. These were the men and women Pier Giorgio had served in secret — visiting the sick, bringing medicine, offering quiet help.
Quiet acts of service
Only then did the full picture of his life begin to emerge. The Italian newspaper La Stampa wrote, “The works he performed in silence emerged from silence with his passing.”
This is what today’s Gospel speaks of: seeing clearly what is often hidden. Those around Pier Giorgio saw only parts of his life. But at his funeral, the truth came into focus. He had lived not for himself but entirely for Christ and for others.
Today, we might ask, if the story of my life were told, would it reveal love for Christ and love for my neighbor? Would my quiet acts of service speak loudly, as Pier Giorgio’s did?
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.
