From the Pastor:
The young man pictured in this photo is actually a teenager whose name is Carlo Acutis. He was 15 years old when his early life ended from leukemia in 2006. During his short time here on earth, he lived a remarkable life, in many ways like that of any other teenager, but in other ways like that of the saints. Proof of this are the two miracles (medical healings of others) that have been attributed to his prayerful intercession before the throne of God in heaven. Like the other saints, God wants us to know about how he lived his life on earth and imitate those saintly qualities in our lives.
Carlo was born on May 3, 1991 and lived most of his life in Italy. Although his parents were Catholic, they rarely prayed or went to Mass. They were too busy for such things because of their careers and other world busyness. Carlo was surprisingly different even from a very young age. He had a special love for God. He loved to pray the rosary and after he made his first Holy Communion, he went to Mass as often as possible at the parish across from his elementary school. Carlo’s love for the Eucharist and his daily prayers eventually inspired a deep conversion in his parents and his relatives.
It was Carlo who brought his parents and others to daily Mass, and not the opposite. He couldn’t understand why there were lines of people waiting for concerts or sporting events but not to receive the Eucharist at Mass, which was Jesus himself! Carlo’s authentic living of Christianity caused a family friend to convert from Hinduism to Catholicism. He taught her to pray, see Jesus in the Eucharist, and to care for all people, especially the poor.
Carlo wasn’t afraid to defend Church teaching, even in situations when his classmates disagreed with him. Many of Carlo’s high school classmates remember Carlo giving a passionate defense for the protection of life from the moment of conception when there was a classroom discussion about abortion. He was known for standing up for kids at school who got bullied, especially kids with disabilities. He spoke about the importance of going to Confession, human dignity, and chastity.
Carlo was fascinated with computer coding and taught himself some of the basic coding languages, including C and C++. He used his computer skills and internet savvy to help his family put together an exhibition on Eucharistic miracles that has gone on to be displayed at thousands of parishes on five continents. He was convinced that the scientific evidence from Eucharistic miracles would help people to realize that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist and come back to Mass.
Although Carlo liked playing video games (Nintendo Game Boy, GameCube, PlayStation, Xbox, Spider-Man, and Pokémon), he limited his playing time to no more than two hours per week. Even when playing video games with his friends, he spoke of the importance of going to Mass and Confession, and living a chaste, holy life.
Before his death in 2006, Carlo offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying: “I offer all of my suffering to the Lord for the pope and for the Church in order not to go to purgatory but to go straight to heaven.” Since God has confirmed his place in heaven through the miraculous healings in his name, he will soon be canonized a saint by Pope Francis. Praise be God!
Gratefully,
Fr. Miller