Excerpts from Sirach 3 My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. From Hebrews 12 …you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.
On this Sunday, today’s Scriptures directs me to aim your attention to a saint in-the-making. Next Sunday will be the canonization of Carlo Acutis. As I tell you a bit about him, you will likely hear of how his life embodies one who “conducted his affairs with humility… and “who found favor with God.” That’s a Bible verse from Sirach 3, from our first reading, which describes Carlo and why it is the Church declares him an official saint.
To bring him into canonization, it means that the Church declares how Carol has “approached God and Mt. Zion” as a “soul of the just made perfect,” just like Hebrews 12 proclaims today of a person entering heaven and joining into the life with the angels and the saints assembled there.
Did you take notice of all the posters in our church commons today? They testify to some detailed research that our Saint Carlo did in proclaiming to the world, via internet, of the fact that the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is…well, real! He gathered all the Eucharistic miracles he could find, with Eucharist stories of Marian apparitions, and then testimonies of mystics and saints of their extraordinary finds of the Eucharist as Jesus—and he shared it in website and internet info for the world to see. He did this all while being a teenager. What we did in the commons was take the internet info of Carol Acutis and make them as poster panels. (Well, precisely, someone in Montgomery County provided this to us today.)
On Sept. 7th at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, our new Pope Leo 14 is canonizing two young persons as saints. Pier Giorgio Frassati is one of them, an Italian 25 year old who lived a great Catholic witness as a young adult in Turin but went home to God at that early age. The second is Carlo Acutis, and this leaflet is on him. He will be the first “millennial” to become a saint in the Church. He lived from 1991 to 2006. He died as a 15 year old. He was a British-born Italian student known for his devotion to the Eucharist and of his media influence on promoting the Miracles of the Eucharist in history as evidence to examine on the Real Presence of Christ among us in His Sacrament. It’s his collection that’s on display on poster-boards in our church,. I did this to prepare your attention on next weekend’s canonization of this young adult who labored well to see that more Catholics and others can better realize Jesus’ Real Presence—Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity—in the Holy Eucharist Sacrament of The Church. We know that not all believe this most important teaching of our Catholic Faith. Carlo wants to convince people otherwise, so to come to Christ the Eucharist. The images in our church are just some of Carlo’s intense research made of where and when and to whom Eucharistic miracles have occurred in the Church’s history, that is, of those with some ‘extra’ evidence to the Lord Jesus’ True Presence among us as Eucharist. (Indeed, every Mass has a Eucharist miracle come to us—I should point out, but in some cases, the Lord has gone further and with being more obvious in His sign of being there in Holy Eucharist. Carlo wanted to point out how The Lord was allowing these occurrences to help His people “get it” of what Jesus already told us was true, like He said to us: “I AM the BREAD OF LIFE” and “WHOEVER EATS MY BODY/DRINKS MY BLOOD HAS LIFE ETERNAL.” Carlo already believed this—but wanted to convince as many as possible to it, if necessary by a Eucharistic miracle proof.
At fifteen years young, before he succumbed physically to leukemia and an October 12th death of it in 2006, Carlo Acutis had established multiple websites showing his exhaustive research of Eucharistic miracles. Since he was a devout worshipper of Christ and to Him as Eucharist (Mass and Adoration of the Eucharist in Exposition), Carlo showed the world his joy and of how to know “the secret” of the Catholic Faith, of The Lord Present in each Eucharist. He listed the miracles A to Z: You can glance at the display of a bunch of them after this Mass. They go on to be displayed at St. Mary Rockville on next weekend, the one of the canonization.
We hope you will watch the canonization Mass—either by “live” watching or by seeing a taping you make or by viewing a re-broadcasting of it. It will require a very early wake up call next Sunday, if you do it “live.” The canonization Mass begins at 4 a.m. or 10 a.m. Rome Italy time.
We also hope you are supporting (or now will support) the Eucharistic Faith of the parish, with its every Friday three hours of Adoration and its First Saturday morn hour of Adoration. We hope you are coming to this vital showing of Jesus in Exposition, at least some times and with family members or your spouse, if you could. Eucharistic Adoration is no small thing.
We also have the 24/7 tabernacle window for visits to the Lord at any hour (or you may visit the church in our open morning hours daily—after Mass). This would be beyond your going to Mass, which is the ideal first way of reverencing our Lord as Eucharist.
Who is Carlo? Here’s some more background… He is a boy born to Italian parents of wealth. While he was born in London, because his parents were living there then, he was raised mostly in Milan, Italy—as his family moved back. There he attended a parish with his family and went to a Jesuit school, and he was a friendly, talented boy. He loved gaming and all things to do with information technology, computers, and the internet. He was inspired by some words said by Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. Carlo put a spiritual interpretation to them. They were: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living the life of someone else.” And “It is only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are truly important.” ‘Carlo’s spin on it? He said it was impactful for him to get going in his Catholic life, even as just a youth, but to go live his vocation in the now. Our Lord gave Carlo this saintly mission, to bear witness to his young love of The Eucharist. What Carlo had not known then was that he would only live to 15 of age. It was good that “he got going.” He had a vigorous, deep and attractive young spirit. He was very Catholic, you could say. It was a very likable version. He made himself to be a Catholic version of becoming his own best self. Carlo explained of how it was all in identifying with his authentic self and not in imitation of the world’s lusts, but with what God loves.
Carlo made a memorable analogy of a photocopy as not being the first thing, explaining: “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies.” Here, Carlo warned against the slavery of conformity—but not with the modern response of being radically individualistic. Rather, he understood that God made us unique and that each of us needs to discern the vocation the Lord has entrusted to us within the family of the Church. Such was the impact of these words on Pope Francis that he included them in his apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit” (“Christ is alive”), which addressed young people. Speaking of Carlo’s example, Francis said, “Many young people, wanting to be different, really end up being like everyone else, running after whatever the powerful set before them with the mechanisms of consumerism and distraction. In this way they do not bring forth the gifts the Lord has given them; they do not offer the world those unique personal talents that God has given to each of them.” Then the pope concluded, with Carlo as his model, ‘Young people: do what Carlo said and be born anew into your original call of God.’ (106) God calls for the real you to come forward in faith.
Using the Steve Jobs quote on saying no to unhelpful things in one’s life, Carol showed wisdom beyond his years, as the boy realized that one can’t say yes to everything. There had to be boundaries and choices of what we accept and reject. He also knew that all goods don’t exist on the same level but present themselves to us in a hierarchy of greater or lesser value, and only by saying ‘no’ to a lesser good can we say ‘yes’ to something greater.
Thus, our soon Saint Carlo Acutis serves as a role model for young people and indeed for all of us of how to use technology without being manipulated or controlled by it. We need to say yes to more Christ-centered activities and other-centered activities, too. Carlo said: “Happiness is looking towards God–Sadness is looking towards yourself.” One of his best-known quotes of Acutis’ wisdom is “Dio, non io.” It translates from the Italian as: “God and not me.” That should serve as a motto of living, shouldn’t it?! “God and not me.” Carlo adds: “What counts in life is the nobility of the soul, that is, the way that one loves God and loves one’s neighbor.”
Here is a clarity of vision from the new saint (9-7-25 Vatican City) that encourages young people to not to settle for something beneath their dignity nor for them to pursue goods that fail to satisfy the longings of the human heart.
In the end of his life, Carlo desired to live in Assisi, Italy—a place that inspired him in visits, due to the St. Francis of Assisi effect on Catholicism through the ages. His family got a residence there. When Carlo died in 2006, he was laid to rest in a church in Assisi.
Pope Leo 14 will pray the canonization Mass on Sunday, Sept. 7th. It will be at 10 am Rome time. Yes, it’s at 4 am USA. It will be on live tv on EWTN. It will be a joyful add-on of this Jubilee Year 2025. ###
NOTES: A Documentary on Carlo Acutis is at this website: https://youtu.be/dUpqQneSOFM
It is a heartwarming hour of watching.
The Website for Carlo’s presentation of Eucharistic Miracles is https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/
Application: View or tape the canonization Mass and watch it as a home/family. Plan on attending the parish’s Eucharistic offerings (outside of Mass). Look on the exhaustive list of Eucharistic Miracles in history, as shown as panels on Acutis website. Our presentation at church today (on posters) was simply a ‘tease’ to go investigate them. Take note of Acutis’list of saints and mystics who had an unusual Eucharist encounter. I’ll list them here below.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque – Sacred Heart of Jesus, 17th Century Saint Thomas Aquinas, 1224-1274 Saint Francis of Assisi, 13th Century Saint Bernard of Chiaravalle, 12th Century San Giovanni Bosco, 1848 Saint Germaine Cousin (Pibrac), 1589 Saint Egidio Saint Stanislaus Kostka, 1550-1568 Saint Faustina Kowalska, 20th Century Saint Satyrus, 4th Century Saint Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa, 1904-1955 Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, 1774-1824 Blessed Mary of the Passion, 1866-1912 Blessed Nicholas Steno (in Danish) St. Nicholas of Flue, 1417 Servant of God Anne-Louise Lateau, 1850 Servant of God Marthe Robin, 1902-1981André Frossard, 20thc Teresa Neumann, 1898-1962
Take note of Miraculous Communions by Saints • Blessed Emilia Bicchieri • Blessed Imelda Lambertini • Blessed James of Montieri • Blessed Thomas of Cori • Saint Bernard • Saint Bonaventure • Saint Gerard Magella • Saint Jerome • Saint Juliana Falconieri • Saint Lucia Filippini• Saint Maria Francesca of the Five Wounds• Saint Secondo • Blessed Angela of Foligno • Saint Agnes Segni • Saint Clare Montefalco • Saint Frances of Rome • Saint Gregory the Great • Saint Teresa of Avila
Take note of Our Lady and the Eucharist Moments in time Calanda, Spain, Miguel-Juan Pellicer, 1640 Fatima, Portugal, The Angel of Peace, 1916 Guadalupe, Mexico, Juan Diego, 1531 Lourdes, France, Saint Bernadette, 1888 Paris, France, Saint Catherine Labouré, 1830
Eucharistic Wonder is a marvelous topic to be engaged in! Take it from new St. Carlo Acutis!