Today is July 29, the Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
We read at today’s Mass, “Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me'” (Lk 10:40).
What is Martha really seeking in today’s Gospel? Her words sound practical — she wants her sister’s help. But beneath her frustration lies a deeper desire: happiness and fulfillment. Martha is looking for the peace that only Christ can give.
Pope St. John Paul II once said to the young people of the world, “It is Jesus, in fact, that you seek when you dream of happiness. He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you.” That same longing shaped the life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. His motto, verso l’alto — “to the heights “– was not only about mountain climbing. It was a way of living.
Striving to holiness
Pier Giorgio never settled. He always pushed higher toward the things of God. Whether in prayer, in service or in friendships, he refused to compromise. His life reminds us that the Christian journey is about striving toward the heights of holiness, trusting that only Christ can satisfy our deepest desires.
Today, let us remember that longing is not a burden but a gift. It is Jesus who calls us forward, always higher, always toward him.
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.
