Gazing toward God
Catholic Education Week 2024
Many of you are aware that we have a relic of Bl Carlo Acutis and the display of Eucharistic miracles that he compiled currently here in Tasmania. I hope each of you have had a chance to see the display and pray before the relic of Bl Carlo.
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 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 part of the 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.
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.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are being invited to look up towards heaven. We are being invited to look to the infinite and not just limit ourselves to the finite.
It is so easy to be focused just on what we can see and feel and touch. It is so easy for us to become fascinated with our computers and mobile phones. It is so easy for us to be just interested in sport and our other activities. We can easily just see life in terms of this world alone.
Bl Carlo was able to look beyond the attractions of this world. His real interest was in the infinite. He knew that his final destiny was heaven.
Another of his sayings was, “Conversion is nothing more than lifting our gaze upwards, a simple movement of our eyes is enough”. To look up and not always only looking down. Today, this is what we can do. As we think about the Virgin Mary being assumed body and soul into heaven we can think about heaven. This is where we all long to go. This life is short, really. It will pass. But we are destined for heaven.
Bl Carlo said, “Sadness is the gaze directed inwards, while happiness is the gaze directed toward God”. It is not just to think about me, but to think about God.
At this Mass as we celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary we can ask Bl Carlo Acutis to help us all not just to look at life around us but to look towards heaven, to direct our gaze towards God.
Archbishop Julian Porteous