“I’m happy to die because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn’t have pleased God.” – Blessed Carlo Acutis
On October 12th, the Church celebrates the feast of Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian youth whose life of 15 years was a truly profound witness for God. Blessed Carlo was born on May 3, 1991 and died on October 12, 2006 after being diagnosed with leukemia. He was beatified in Assisi, Italy on October 10, 2020 making him the first beautified Millennial. His parents and his twin siblings (who were born on the anniversary of Carlo’s death) along with many others who loved him were present for this joyous day of celebrating this extraordinary teen. It was how intentionally he lived his short life that gives us the most inspiration as we reflect upon his life to inspire us.
Led His Family Closer to God
His family was not active in their Catholic faith, and it was through the love and devotion of Blessed Carlo that his family was brought deeper into their faith. After receiving his First Communion at the age of seven, Blessed Carlo never missed attending daily Mass along with spending time in Adoration before and after Mass. He begged to go into any Catholic Church that he walked past and daily prayed a Rosary. His love for Our Blessed Mother was expressed in his statement of “The Virgin Mary is the only Woman in my life.”
Cared for Others
His love for Christ and Mary spoke volumes not only to his family but to his classmates at school. Blessed Carlo was seen comforting, teaching, and supporting not only his peers; but also, adults, in particular the janitor at his school. Blessed Carlo would seek ways to serve others to glorify God. He saw Christ in each person. Blessed Carlo exclaimed “Not me, but God” knowing that it was through God’s graces he could live the faith he was given as a gift from God. He never sought to be famous but only to be holy in his everyday life.
Used Modern Technology to Spread the Faith
The deeper his commitment to love in action, the deeper Blessed Carlo wanted to learn and share the faith. Living in the age of technology, he knew that its use was vital to spread the Good News. His love for the Eucharist and his great skills as a computer programmer allowed him to create a website dedicated to sharing all the Eucharistic Miracles throughout the world. The website is still viewable and is filled with the amazing stories of God’s miracles to help all to understand the True Presence of Jesus in Holy Eucharist. Blessed Carlo wanted the world to know of the miracles and to believe in the Eucharist for he proclaimed that “The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven.”
Showed Us How Precious Time Is
As a youth, Blessed Carlo loved to play soccer, hang with friends, increase his computer programming expertise, create comics and films, and even play video games on his Playstation. He was a normal youth, but what made him stand out in holiness was that he knew he needed to put his soul’s health and holiness above his wants. He used his talents and love always to glorify God and to increase his relationship with God. He wanted to remain free to love God. Blessed Carlo knew that his actions and daily choices would affect his relationship with God. He stated, “Always to be united with Jesus, that is my life’s programme.” He understood that letting anything except God take the center of his heart was dangerous folly. As a young teen, he set limits for himself which even included only one hour of video gaming per week. He wanted to play more, but he knew that he was put on this earth not just to be entertained but to serve and love God. He wanted to use all his time and talents to remain united with Jesus.
To be inspired by his example and to understand how we can keep video games properly grounded in our lives, I highly recommend you view and share with your family this great video Are Video Games Allowed? by Ask a Marian. It speaks of Blessed Carlo as well as the problem of some types of video games when we choose the lesser good vs. the greatest good – God.
Here are some great videos about Blessed Carlo to share with your children so they might see the witness of his youth and how they can live a holier life following Blessed Carlo’s example:
- The Life of Blessed Carlo Acutis
- Blessed Carlo Acutis, The Tech Teen who found Jesus
- NEW Patron of the Internet Blessed Carlo
- The Song of Carlo (Acutis) – “Not I, But You O Lord!” Music Video
Blessed Carlo is a saintly youth who is buried in jeans and Nikes for he is one of us. He calls us to live a life committed to honoring God in every minute we are blessed with. May the witness and love of Blessed Carlo Acutis touch our hearts and the hearts of the whole world that we might remain always close to God. May we find time to make Mass a priority and to regularly come to the Church to spend beautiful time with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration (available in St Mary of the Wood Chapel at Sacred Heart on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday from 8:00 am to 8:45 pm and Tuesday 8 am to 5 pm.)
Blessed Carlo, inspire us to stay close to Jesus on Earth like you did so that we can remain forever with Jesus in Heaven. Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us!
References:
Quotes retrieved from https://carloacutis-en.org/
Author: Laura Stephens
