Today is July 9, Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at Mass today, “Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, ‘Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand'” (Mt 10:5-7).
What does it mean to live as someone who truly believes the kingdom of heaven is at hand? To carry that proclamation not just on our lips but in our hearts? That’s the question that begins our next set of reflections on the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
Pier Giorgio’s interior life — the hidden life of prayer, virtue and communion with God — was built on one simple, daily habit: morning Mass. He began each day with the Eucharist. And that practice became the anchor of his generosity, humility and clarity of conscience.
‘So absorbed in prayer’
Pier Giorgio received his first Communion at age 10. There was no party or fanfare, just a single cup of hot chocolate. But his sister later reflected that the power of Christ received each morning in the Eucharist was the secret to all the heroic acts of charity that followed. His humility, his moral conviction, his ability to love the poor without counting the cost — all of it flowed from his daily communion.
A friend once described watching Pier Giorgio at Mass: “He would kneel so absorbed in prayer that I was sure even a bee sting wouldn’t disturb him.” That kind of focus and reverence wasn’t for show. It was a genuine overflow of love. He believed. He knew whom he was receiving.
If daily Mass isn’t part of your rhythm yet, don’t be discouraged. Start small. Try once a week — maybe Wednesday or Friday. That’s how I started. Over time, the hunger grows. The desire deepens. And like Pier Giorgio, your interior life will take root in the one who comes to us so humbly under the appearance of bread.
Let us pray,
O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy, for on those you have rescued from slavery to sin you bestow eternal gladness. 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.
