Recently we witnessed the beatification of Blessed Carlo Acutis. It was a welcome change to see a very young teenager who lived in the 21st century being added to the roll of holy men and women. Carlo’s love for the Eucharist is both commendable and inspiring when one considers that he was only 11-years-old, when he started developing a website of Eucharistic miracles. He is quoted as having said, “The more Eucharists we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth, we will have a foretaste of Heaven.” This special teen saw the web as a tool to use with responsibility, without becoming enslaved. Pope Francis presented him as an example for young people in the whole world who can use the new technologies to communicate the Gospel and its values and beauty.
The world is going through a great time of sufferings and anxiety due to Covid – 19, yet such blessed lives can teach us that even though we have problems and sufferings, yet there is hope for a believer. “Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18). When faced with problems, let’s not reject the Lord by complaining and moaning about them. Rather let’s join our sufferings to the sufferings of Jesus on the cross and offer it up for the salvation of the world. Each one of us are called to be saints; so, let’s aspire to live like one.
