The Eucharist is my highway to heaven
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
As I am sure you are aware, we have the presence of a relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis and the display of Eucharistic miracles that he compiled currently here in Launceston.
The story of Bl Carlo’s life is extraordinary. He was born of Italian parents in 1991. He died of acute leukemia in 2006. He was just 15 years old.
Several years ago I was leading a pilgrimage of our Catholic school principals in Italy and we visited Assisi. I knew that the body of Bl Carlo was in the town. I made enquires and we visited the church where we were able to see his incorrupt body through a glass-faced coffin. He was dressed as any young person would be today.
After his death he was buried in his home parish and later, because he had requested it, he was buried in a cemetery in Assisi. He had a special love for St Francis. Upon being named venerable in 2018, his body was exhumed and is now in display in a church in the town. He was beatified in 2020. Now a second miracle has been attributed to him and he will be canonised in the near future.
Here we have a very contemporary saint. A millennial saint. Here we have a saint who is young, who is typical of young people today. He experienced the world of the early new millennium with all its wondrous advances, especially in technology, and also its many dangers and false attractions. Through all of this he found a way to be a saint, a saint of our times.
Carlo had an extraordinary faith from a young age, even though his parents weren’t particularly active in their Catholic faith. He had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin and said the rosary every day. And he had a love for the Eucharist. He used to say, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven”. He was into computers. His fascination with the reality of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist led him to research and develop a series of 160 images of Eucharistic miracles. He wanted to promote faith in the real presence of the Risen Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
Now, here in Launceston, you can visit the exhibition of his collection of Eucharistic miracles.
During this month of August we are reading from the sixth chapter of St John’s Gospel in our Sunday lectionary. We have taken a break from reading from St Mark for a period of five weeks, before resuming our readings from St Mark. Reading from St John the Church offers us the teaching of Jesus about the Eucharist over a period of five weeks. Each Sunday we contemplate the sublime teaching of the Lord. We are invited to realise afresh the wonder of what happens at every Mass and the extraordinary privilege that is ours to receive our risen Lord into our hearts and souls.
The teaching of Jesus given to us by St John offers us rich fare for personal reflection and prayer.
It is the last lines of the Gospel reading today that are surely a stirring promise made to each of us:
I am the living bread come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
One could imagine how these words would have resonated in the heart of Bl Carlo Acutis. He deeply believed them and they were the absolute foundation for his whole life. It was this promise that would have inspired Bl Carlo to attend Mass every day.
He knew the wonder of this most extraordinary gift – at each Mass he is invited into a “holy communion” with the risen Lord.
Today, let us hear these words and ponder their wonder. Bl Carlo used to say, “Our aim has to be the infinite and not the finite”. He looked up and gazed upon the wondrous mystery of God coming to us when we approach the altar and receive Holy Communion.
Today, let us quietly ponder the words of the Lord and we can ask Bl Carlo to help us deepen our faith that like him we may have a deep hunger for the Eucharist and deeply encounter the risen Lord every time we receive Holy Communion:
I am the living bread come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
Archbishop Julian Porteous
Sunday, 4 August 2024