“Teens need not be afraid to talk about their relationship with Jesus,” Fr. Cole Kennett, Pastor at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, said. “Teens use social media and technology as a whole to speak about other parts of their life. A teens relationship with Jesus is to be more fulfilling and more real than any other relationship.”
Carlo Acutis was just a regular boy who loved computers and video games, but he had a special gift for sharing his relationship with Jesus to the entire world. Just before his death in 2006 from leukemia at age 15, Acutis published his self-made website which documented all of the recognized eucharistic miracles in the Catholic Church (one of the most notable being the bleeding host, read about the scientific research of some of these here).
Acutis has recently been recognized as worthy of sainthood*, and will officially be declared a saint in 2025. Acutis will become the first millennial saint in the Catholic Church, and the first to grow up in the digital age.
“Carlo shows us that sainthood is a possibility for every generation,” Fr. Kennett said. “God’s grace and his call to holiness is not tailored for a specific generation but for all peoples regardless of generation. His short life shows God’s grace is enough to sanctify each person with whatever length of time their life spans.”
Acutis was born on May 3, 1991 in London, and moved shortly after to Milan, Italy. From a young age, Acutis had a special love for God and the eucharist (the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ).
Acutis was both passionate about his faith and coding. He taught himself coding languages like C and C++. His love for the eucharist shined through in the website he coded, titled Miracoli Eucaristici, which has also been turned into an exhibition that has been displayed at thousands of parishes across five continents.
“I think that Blessed Carlo Acutis will act as a role model for young Catholics and hopefully all young people who hear his story,” Matthew Giesselmann, Lincoln East teacher and sponsor of Spartan Catholic, said. “Despite the temptations and evils that are unique to the 21st century, Blessed Carlo Acutis intentionally lived his life in a righteous way, utilizing his skills with technology for good.”
The Catholic Church calls all to work towards sainthood, but sometimes it can feel difficult, within our society. It seems technology has become a world of hate, so to spread the love of God, one must learn to use technology for good.
“Carlo’s example shows us that technology can be a gift from God to aid us in our lives and be a means of vividly expressing the Gospel,” Fr. Kennett said.
Technology is a great way to meet and connect with fellow Catholics. To make in-person connections with Catholics in the Lincoln East community, attend Spartan Catholic, which will begin meeting weekly starting in November.
*To learn more about the sainthood process, visit The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website.
