Today is September 12, Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’ when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:3-5).
“I remember Carlo well. He was always so kind, good-hearted, and well-mannered,” writes a homeless person who knew Carlo from the steps of his parish church in Milan. “Every once in a while he would give me some money, which I believe came from his allowance. There aren’t too many kids around like Carlo these days.”
Carlo was known as a loyal and encouraging friend. He especially supported classmates who were struggling with illness or hardship. His words of comfort and his steady presence revealed a heart shaped by love. For him, friendship was not about popularity but about helping others walk toward heaven.
A glimpse of the love of Christ
Many friendships in our culture are shallow, built on convenience or shared interests. Carlo shows us what authentic friendship looks like: to will the good of the other, even at a cost to oneself. He took time to encourage, to visit, to lift up the spirits of those who were suffering.
In his “Confessions,” St. Augustine reflects that true friendship is always rooted in God. Carlo embodied this insight. His friendships were not distractions from holiness but paths to it. By loving his friends sincerely, he helped them glimpse the love of Christ.
This challenges us to examine our own relationships. Do our friendships help us grow in faith or do they pull us away from God? Carlo reminds us that to be a true friend is to lead others closer to the Lord.
Let us pray,
O God, by whom we are redeemed and receive adoption, look graciously upon your beloved sons and daughters, that those who believe in Christ may receive true freedom and an everlasting inheritance. 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.
