Giving witness to Jesus Christ

“Children, have you caught anything to eat? Cast your nets over to the right side of the boat and you will find something.” And when the disciples did this, they hauled in a net full of fish. And Peter, the one who betrayed Jesus three times, dove into the sea and swam to be with Jesus.

Jesus calls his disciples children, because he wanted to teach them about God, and to feed them with God’s divine life. Jesus provided a shore lunch for his disciples and had them, especially Peter, reaffirm their love for him.

This is the joy of every parent. To teach your children about Jesus Christ and his holy life; because children who know Jesus as the Son of God and the Son of Mary, and pray to him, will be a blessing for themselves and for their family and friends.

Of course, before eating a meal, parents will insist that their children wash their hands so as not to become sick. After this past pandemic, I think we all appreciate our life and health as a gift from God, thanking him every day. Eucharist means thanksgiving, and Jesus is the perfect thanksgiving that purifies our thanksgiving and leads us to heaven where there is no more sickness and death. For this reason we come to Mass every weekend when possible, to celebrate Jesus Christ in the Eucharist – the pledge of Eternal Life.

Jesus Christ continues to feed his children and inspire them to be witnesses to a life of love and service that reaches toward heaven. Carlo Acutis was a witness to Christ and was beatified by Pope Francis on October 10, 2020. Carlo was born in London, 1991, but then his family moved back to Milan, Italy.

Carlo was baptized and was an energetic child who loved God. His mother was given advice by a priest to learn more about the Catholic faith so that she could understand Carlo’s love for God.

Antonia, the mother of Carlo, learned more and with special permission was able to have Carlo receive Holy Communion and Confirmation when he was seven. Carlo wrote, “To be always united with Jesus, this is my life program.”

To be always united to God, this is the greatest step to being a witness to the light of Jesus Christ. Carlo became a witness to Jesus Christ by receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist daily, going to confession almost weekly and pray-ing the Rosary daily.

He was so in love with Jesus Christ, our Eucharistic Lord, that he used his talent as a computer web designer to gather many of the Eucharistic miracle stories so that people could learn about them through the internet. He started this project at age 11 and continued to add to it until age 14.

His mother, Antonia, recalls how he liked computer games, but limited himself to only one hour a week so that he could stay free to serve God and others. She recalls that: “As a little boy, especially after his First Communion, he never missed his daily appointment with the Holy Mass and the Rosary, followed by a moment of Eucharistic Adoration.”

Carlo would often say that the Eucharist is his high-way to heaven. He would also say, “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.”

Carlo Acutis died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. When he was diagnosed with leu-kemia Carlo said, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.”

Pope Francis approved a miracle that was attributed to the intercession of Carlo which occurred in Brazil where a boy Mattheus was healed of a birth defect called an annular pancreas.

This birth defect profoundly limited Mattheus’ diet to vitamins and protein shakes. His mother, Luciana Vianna, spent years praying for her child who was only 20 pounds at age 4 and thought to be near death. But then a priest friend of the family learned about Carlo Acutis through the internet and obtained a relic from the mother of Carlo.

Padre Marcelo invited Catholics to a healing Mass and encouraged them to ask Carlo to intercede for whatever healing they might need. On October 12, 2013, exactly seven years after Carlo’s death, Mattheus and his mother went to that Mass and Mattheus touched the picture of Carlo with a prayer to be healed.

Healing began immediately to the point that his pancreas changed physiologically. On the way home from Mass, Mattheus told his mother that he was already healed. At home, he asked for French fries, rice, beans and a steak – the favorite foods of his brothers that he could only imagine eat-ing.

He ate everything on his plate and did not vomit. This occurred for several days and when his mother brought him to the physicians they were mystified by the healing Mattheus had experienced, a full physiological change.

This miracle was attributed to the intercession of Carlo Acutis and many people gave witness to how Jesus Christ shined through this boy Carlo, who grew into a young man whose mission was to bring as many people to Jesus Christ as possible. The seventeen-day event that occurred during his beatification October 10, 2020 had approximately 41,000 people pass by the tomb of Carlo to see him lying there in peace in his tennis shoes, jeans, a sweater, and holding his Rosary.

Even after his death, Carlo is still giving witness to Jesus Christ who is the light of saving truth and healing of grace that the human family desperately needs before the glorious coming of Christ. Although the passing of Pope Francis has delayed the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, we can still ask him to intercede for us, especially that we would have a fervent love of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucha-rist and in God’s poor.

Peace in the Crucified and Risen Lord Jesus,

Fr. Thomas McCabe