When I travelled the Camino back in
2003, we entered a small village called O Cebreiro. This is a place where one
of the Eucharistic miracles took place. The story goes that in 1300 that on
winter night with a blizzard raging a farmer attended the Church for Mass. The
priest who had to travel up the hill from the valley below had grown cynical
over the years and doubted the real presence of Christ. He wondered if it was
worth braving the elements to celebrate Mass for just one person. After he
prayed the words of consecration the bread became actual human flesh and the
wine became blood. It is said that the statue of Mary bowed in adoration of the
miracle. Both the host and the chalice were preserved and Queen Isabella
commissioned to reliques in which they could be venerated in 1486. The miracle
was recorded in two Papal Documents (known as a bull) by Pope Innocent VIII in
1487and Pope Alexander VI in 1496.
Whenever we celebrate the Feast of
Corpus Christi, we are called to reflect on the statement made by Jesus where
he states that “if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his
blood, you will not have life within you.” This is a statement about how Jesus
is present in the bread and wine that are offered at Mass that becomes His Body
and Blood. This is not just a metaphor but a reality of how intimately he
desires for His life to become our life too. Much as when people give blood at
the blood bank it is given freely for us to be drawn into a deeper communion
with the Body of Christ. This is not taken by force but out of his total
self-giving for the life of the world. His desire is that as we receive this
food for the journey, we seek to draw life from Him that draws us closer to
eternal life.
It was this desire of Saint Carlos
Acutis to not waste time where he wished to apply his skills of information
technology, computers, and the internet. He was inspired by two quotes from the
book of Job. “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living the life of
someone else.” And “It is only by saying ‘no’ that you can concentrate on the
things that are truly important.”
Pope Francis echoed these sentiments
when he said in Christus Vivit (Christ is alive) when he addressed young
people. He saw that many young people, wanting to be different, really end
up being like everyone else, running after whatever the powerful set before
them with the mechanisms of consumerism and distraction. In this way they do
not bring forth the gifts the Lord has given them; they do not offer the world
those unique personal talents that God has given to each of them. As a result,
Carlo said, ‘Everyone is born as an original, but many people end up dying as
photocopies.’ Do not let that happen to you! (Christus Vivit 106).
He also understood that not all goods
are equal but present themselves to us in a hierarchy of greater and lesser
value. Only by saying ‘no’ to a lesser good can we say ‘yes’ to something
greater. In the light of the rapid expansion of AI, Pope Leo has written the
encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. At
its heart is the discovery of Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In
him, the grandeur of our humanity is safeguarded and brought to fulfilment.
True progress always springs from a heart open to others, an intelligence
willing to listen, and a will that seeks what unites rather than what divides.
For Carlo, information technology was to be seen for what it is: a tool to
share the Good News, to connect, and to do good. In this way, he stands as a
model for young people, and indeed for all of us, in how to use technology
without being manipulated or controlled by it. Carlo saw the Eucharist as the
stairway to heaven through his faithful participation in Mass and Adoration. He
often said, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus,
so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of Heaven.” And again: “If we
get in front of the sun, we get sun tans, but when we get in front of Jesus in
the Eucharist, we become saints.” It also inspired him to create a website that
documented these Eucharistic Miracles.
As we prepare for the Eucharistic
Congress in Sydney in 2028, may we open our hearts ever more deeply to the real
presence of Christ in our midst. May he draw us closer to himself, renew our
hope, and make our lives a living witness to the joy and promise of heaven.
