Today is July 28, Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened” (Mt 13:33).
In the Gospel, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to yeast. Just as a small amount of yeast transforms an entire batch of dough, so too the witness of one life can stir faith in countless hearts.
We see this through the saints. Their quiet example and intercession continue to encourage the Church. This was especially true in the case of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, whose second approved miracle has now opened the way for his canonization, scheduled for September 7, 2025.
Leavening the Church
The miracle happened in Los Angeles. A young seminarian, Juan Manuel Gutiérrez, tore his Achilles tendon in a basketball accident in 2017. Facing a long recovery, he began praying a novena to Blessed Pier Giorgio on All Saints Day. While praying in the seminary chapel, he felt a warm sensation in his ankle.
Later exams, including an MRI, confirmed that his tendon was completely healed. The Church carefully investigated the case, and Pope Francis officially recognized it as a miracle through Blessed Pier Giorgio’s intercession in 2024.
This story reminds us that the saints are not distant figures. They continue to leaven the Church. Through their prayers and example, they help us rise toward Christ.
Let us pray,
O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure. 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.
