October 14, 2024

Dear John,

Carlo Acutis was born just three years after me. Seeing his tomb in Assisi was both eerie and surreal. Carlo sadly passed away from leukemia in 2006, but his legacy is very much alive. At his beatification, Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised the first millennial saint as an example of someone who used technology for good: as a medium for encouraging others and sharing the Gospel.

If I’m honest with myself, I do not always have a great relationship with technology. I sometimes use it to distract, numb, or doom scroll. Carlo’s legacy inspires me to consume media and use technology in a healthy, uplifting way. At Franciscan Media, we have a virtual staff meeting every morning where we pray together. It is an opportunity to recenter ourselves and get our hearts in the right place before we delve fully into our workdays. It is a daily reminder to us, as a media organization, that technology and media can be used for good, just as Carlo modeled.

With your support, we can provide more resources that celebrate our brothers and sisters in faith, won't you please consider a gift to Franciscan Media today?

Blessings,

Stephen Copeland

Book Editor, Franciscan Media

SAINT OF THE DAY

Saint of the Day for October 14: Carlo Acutis

(May 3, 1991 – October 12, 2006)

Listen to Blessed Carlo Acutis’ Story Here

Born in London and raised in Milan, Carlo’s wealthy parents were not particularly religious. Upon receiving his first communion at age seven, Carlo became a frequent communicant, making a point of praying before the tabernacle before or after every Mass. In addition to Francis of Assisi, Carlo took several of the younger saints as his models, including Bernadette Soubirous, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Dominic Savio.

At school Carlo tried to comfort friends whose parents were undergoing divorce, as well as stepping in to defend disabled students from bullies. After school hours he volunteered his time with the city’s homeless and destitute. Considered a computer geek by some, Carlo spent four years creating a website dedicated to cataloguing every reported Eucharistic miracle around the world. He also enjoyed films, comics, soccer, and playing popular video games.

Diagnosed with leukemia, Carlo offered his sufferings to God for the intentions of the sitting pope—Benedict XVI—and the entire Church. His longtime desire to visit as many sites of Eucharistic miracles as possible was cut short by his illness. Carlo died in 2006 and was beatified in 2020.

As he had wished, Carlo was buried in Assisi at St. Mary Major’s “Chapel of the Stripping”, where Francis had returned his clothes to his father and began a more radical following of the Gospel.

Among the thousands present for Carlo’s beatification at Assisi’s Basilica of St. Francis were many of his childhood friends. Presiding at the beatification service, Cardinal Agostino Vallini praised Carlo as an example of how young people can use technology to spread the Gospel “to reach as many people as possible and help them know the beauty of friendship with the Lord.” His liturgical feast is celebrated on October 12.

Reflection

Carlo Acutis did not strive to become famous but rather to cooperate as generously as possible with God’s grace. That journey brought him many experiences, but they were all united by a burning desire to serve God and others as generously as possible.

MINUTE MEDITATIONS

Trust the Goodness You See

While we are quite familiar with being disappointed by the worst we see in the world, we cannot deny the extraordinary heroism of which humanity is also capable. All around us, ordinary people are performing acts of sacrifice, giving up their own lives so that others may live. It is nearly impossible to look into the world and not see love overflowing at every turn. Science cannot explain it; logic doesn’t understand it. And yet, love emanates more powerfully than any substance we can measure. Truth transcends any instrument or equation. In moments of pessimism, when we find ourselves impatient with the world, do not grow hopeless, but trust in the unexplainable love lived by so many.

Trust the goodness you see. Be still, and know that God is the source of all that is Good, Beautiful, and True, and that all love exists because God wills it.

—from the book Let Go: Seven Stumbling Blocks to Christian Discipleship
by Casey Cole, OFM

PAUSE+PRAY

Indigenous Peoples, Children of God

Reflect

It is no accident that Indigenous Peoples’ Day lands on the same date as Columbus Day—October 9. Much of their history has been robbed, distorted, and, even worse, erased after generations of colonialism and westward expansion. But, thank God, not everything has been lost. As a diverse group that covers a wide range of the Americas, the gift and influence of Indigenous cultures is palpable and well overdue for recognition by those in the majority. As children of God so close to the earth and nature, we would be wise to listen and learn more from the lessons Indigenous peoples on how to be better stewards of creation.

Pray

Your beautiful creation, Lord,
has been cared for by the loving hands
of Indigenous communities stretching back
before recorded history.
May the connection between the Great Spirit
and the Holy Spirit remind us that we are all one.
May we look to our Indigenous brothers and sisters
for guidance on how to sustain and nourish the natural world,
taking our proper place not as owners of the land,
but caretakers.
Amen.

Act

Take a quick look at the life of St. Kateri Tekakwitha or St. Juan Diego, both Indigenous—and popular—saints. What strikes you about their lives of faith? What parallels can you draw between their times and ours? Consider what made them holy, and see if there small ways to follow in their saintly footsteps.

Today's Pause+Pray was written by Daniel Imwalle. Learn more here!

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