Today is July 18, Friday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men” (Mt 12:6-7).
When Jesus speaks about mercy, he isn’t rejecting justice or public order. He is reminding us that all our actions, including our efforts to serve society, must flow from love. That’s an important message for anyone involved in activism or public life.
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati knew this well. As a young man in post-war Italy, he was politically active and fiercely committed to defending the Church. Yet his activism was not driven by partisanship or anger; it was rooted in Christian charity.
Accepting ‘Christ’s voice and teaching’
His sister Luciana offers us some perspective on this in the time they were growing up: “He was seventeen, coming out of adolescence in 1918 and it was difficult to begin grown up life. One felt a desire to shout, to get involved in politics and make a lot of noise on one side or another.” She tells us that Pier Giorgio was determined to fight or even die for his convictions, but what he really wanted was to defend Christ. Pier Giorgio himself repeatedly wrote, “When all accept Christ’s voice and teaching, we will be able to say we are equal and every difference between human beings will be annulled.”
That is Christian politics at its best — not simply choosing a side, but allowing the light of the Gospel to shape how we engage with the world. Pier Giorgio reminds us that our first goal is for others to know Jesus. Once Christ is at the center, society can begin to reflect his mercy and truth.
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.
