Encountering Bl. Carlo Acutis
Dear Friends in Christ,
“Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” (John 14:21).
In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus invites us into relationship with him. Not just a casual friendship or passing acquaintance, but a relationship based on love. There are many times when I have had the opportunity to witness others’ relationship with Jesus. Friends, loved ones, and acquaintances have all radiated a certain joy beyond reason. It is a joy established in knowing God’s Love and being in a relationship with Jesus. Saints, too, have revealed this special relationship to me.
Today, I am reminded of a particular young fellow, Blessed Carlo Acutis, who lived 1999 to 2006. His name may be familiar, as he was beatified in 2021 by Pope Francis and is the patron of the Eucharistic Revival. During his life of fifteen years, he is known to have played video games and taught himself computer coding and animation all while being a typical teenager. Beyond these everyday traits, however, is the way his life impacted others. Let me share some selections with you about Bl. Carlo:
In sociological terms this boy is the same as his school friends, and bears out the fact that the Gospel can also be experienced fully by an adolescent. His brief existence, reaching out with the aim of encountering Jesus, was like a beacon lighting the way not only of anyone who met him on their path, but also of those people yet to know his story. -Bishop Michelangelo M. Tiribilli
All the actions he made struck me right in the heart. Then he said to me, ‘The Lord lives in the heart too.’ -Rajesh Mohur (household worker for the Acutis’ family)
He loved the Eucharist and was fascinated by Eucharistic miracles. He asked his parents to take him on pilgrimages — to the places of the saints, and to the sites of Eucharistic miracles. Using his research, he began creating what would eventually become a website to catalog and share the information with others. Carlo was concerned by people growing distant to the Church and the sacraments and desperately wanted to bring them back. On the site, he told people that "the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven." -Article by Meg Hunter-Kilmer, Our Sunday Visitor
As mentioned in the excerpts above, Carlo’s love for the Eucharist culminated in sharing and documenting Eucharistic Miracles approved by the Vatican from around the world. I invite you to experience this display in person beginning next weekend. This display is an opportunity for each of us to meet Jesus face to face in the Eucharist, to grow deeper in our relationship with him, and to nurture that joyful relationship of love.
Bl. Carlo Acutis is a great example for all of us of someone who truly loved Jesus. And just as Jesus says in the Gospel, he revealed himself to Bl. Carlo through the Eucharist. I encourage you to consider this witness and to open yourself to how Jesus might be revealing himself to you today.