This Witness Wednesday episode shares the inspiring story of St. Carlo Acutis, a modern teenager who loved computers, friends, and ordinary life, but centered everything around Jesus and the Eucharist. His short life reminds us that holiness is not about doing extraordinary things—it is about staying close to Jesus, loving others, and using the gifts God has given us for His glory. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Today is Witness Wednesday, and this week I want to share the witness of someone who shows us that you don't have to live a long life, do something spectacular, or have everything figured out in order to become a saint.
His name is St. Carlo Acutis.
His feast day was just a couple of days ago, on October 12, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to talk about his life and the incredible witness he left behind.
Carlo Acutis was born in London in 1991 to Italian parents, although his family moved back to Milan while he was still a baby. He grew up much like other children his age. He went to school. He had friends. He enjoyed sports. He loved animals. He loved computers and technology.
But there was something else about Carlo.
From a very young age, he had a profound love for Jesus—especially Jesus in the Eucharist.
He received his First Communion when he was seven years old, and from that point on, the Eucharist became the center of his life. He went to Mass every day whenever he could. He spent time in Eucharistic Adoration. He prayed the Rosary. He went to Confession frequently.
Carlo once said, “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.”
I love that.
Think about what a highway does. It gives you a direct route to where you are trying to go. Carlo knew exactly where he wanted to go. He wanted heaven. More importantly, he wanted Jesus.
His whole life was oriented toward that goal.
And yet, Carlo wasn't living in a monastery. He wasn't separated from the world. He was a regular kid growing up at the beginning of the digital age.
He loved computers, and he was very talented with them. Instead of seeing technology as something separate from his faith, Carlo asked, in a sense, “How can I use this gift for God?”
At around eleven years old, he began researching Eucharistic miracles from around the world. Eventually he used his computer skills to create an online exhibition documenting these miracles so that other people could learn about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Just think about that for a minute.
Here was a young boy using the internet not simply for entertainment, but to evangelize.
He took something he loved and something he was good at, and he gave it to God.
How often do we think serving God has to look a certain way?
Maybe we think we need to preach from a stage, become a missionary, write a book, lead a Bible study, or do something that looks obviously religious.
But what if God wants to use what you're already good at?
What if He wants to use your ability to cook, organize, write, teach, listen, fix things, make people laugh, work with technology, care for children, manage money, make music, encourage others, or whatever gifts He has placed inside of you?
Carlo didn't have to stop being Carlo in order to become holy.
He simply invited Jesus into every part of who he already was.
And I think there is such an important lesson in that for us.
First Timothy 4:12 says:
“Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.”
Carlo certainly did that.
But another thing I love about his story is that his faith wasn't only about prayer and church. His love for Jesus overflowed into the way he treated people.
Carlo noticed people others overlooked.
He helped classmates who were struggling. He befriended children who were being bullied. He cared about the poor and homeless people in his neighborhood and would give away some of his own money to help them. He didn't simply talk about loving Jesus. His relationship with Jesus changed how he saw the people around him.
Isn't that what our faith is supposed to do?
The closer we get to Jesus, the more we begin to see others through His eyes.
Maybe that is a good question for us today:
Is my relationship with Jesus changing the way I treat people?
Am I noticing the lonely person?
Am I patient with the difficult person?
Do I see the person everyone else ignores?
Do I give generously?
Do I forgive?
Do I love when loving isn't convenient?
Carlo's life reminds us that holiness isn't just what happens when we're kneeling in church. Holiness happens in the hallway at school, around the dinner table, at work, online, in the grocery store, and in all those ordinary interactions nobody else will ever see.
Carlo also understood something that many of us struggle to understand.
He knew that becoming holy meant becoming more like the person God created him to be—not becoming a copy of everyone else.
One of the sayings most associated with Carlo is that everyone is born an original, but many people die as photocopies.
That's powerful, especially today.
We live in a world that constantly invites us to compare ourselves to someone else.
Their house.
Their body.
Their marriage.
Their ministry.
Their children.
Their career.
Their social media following.
Their success.
Even their spiritual life.
But God didn't create you to become someone else.
He created you to become fully who He created YOU to be.
Carlo's life was short, but he didn't waste it trying to become somebody else.
And then, suddenly, everything changed.
In October 2006, Carlo became very sick. At first, his illness seemed like the flu. But doctors soon discovered that he had an aggressive form of leukemia.
He was only fifteen years old.
Within days, his condition deteriorated rapidly.
And yet even in his suffering, Carlo remained focused on God. He offered his suffering for the Pope and for the Church. On October 12, 2006, Carlo died.
Fifteen years old.
Think about that.
Most of us would say his life had barely begun.
But God doesn't measure a life the way we do.
We tend to measure life in years.
God looks at love.
Faithfulness.
Surrender.
Holiness.
Carlo had only fifteen years on this earth, but look at what God has done through his yes.
His Eucharistic miracle exhibition has traveled around the world. Millions of people have learned his story. Young people have discovered that holiness isn't something reserved for another generation. Adults have been challenged by his simplicity and devotion.
He was beatified in Assisi in 2020, and on September 7, 2025, Pope Leo XIV canonized Carlo Acutis as a saint of the Catholic Church.
During the canonization Mass, Pope Leo spoke about the simple practices that shaped Carlo's life: Mass, prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, and charity. Carlo integrated prayer, school, sports, study, friendship, and service into one life centered around Jesus.
And maybe that's what strikes me the most about Carlo.
His path to holiness wasn't complicated.
Stay close to Jesus.
Receive Him in the Eucharist.
Pray.
Go to Confession.
Love people.
Use your gifts for God.
Keep your eyes on heaven.
We sometimes make holiness seem almost impossible.
Maybe that's because we imagine saints as people who were completely different from us.
But Carlo wore sneakers.
He played video games.
He used computers.
He went to school.
He joked with his friends.
He lived in our modern world.
And he became a saint.
So today, I want you to ask yourself:
What would change if you truly made being close to Jesus your number-one goal?
Not becoming successful.
Not being liked.
Not accomplishing everything on your list.
Not proving yourself.
Simply staying close to Jesus.
Carlo described it as his “life plan”—to always be united to Jesus.
What if that became our life plan too?
We don't know how many years God will give us.
Hopefully many.
But the witness of St. Carlo Acutis reminds us that the goal isn't simply to live a long life.
The goal is to live the life we are given well.
To love Jesus.
To love others.
To use what God has given us for His glory.
And to remember where all of this is leading.
Heaven.
Maybe today you feel ordinary.
Maybe you don't think you're doing anything significant for God.
That's okay.
You don't have to do something extraordinary today.
Do the ordinary things with extraordinary love.
Go to Mass.
Spend a few minutes with Jesus.
Encourage someone.
Forgive someone.
Help someone.
Use one of your gifts.
Put down your phone long enough to notice the person standing in front of you.
And ask Jesus, “How can I love You today?”
St. Carlo Acutis shows us what can happen when an ordinary person makes Jesus the center of an ordinary life.
And perhaps that is Carlo's greatest witness:
You don't have to wait until you're older.
You don't have to wait until life gets easier.
You don't have to wait until you're more holy.
You can choose Jesus today.
St. Carlo Acutis, pray for us.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to Walk Boldly With Jesus. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!