By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor
Emily Gietzen’s eyes convey a sense of longing as she tells a videographer in the documentary “Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality” that with so many people saying God isn’t real, “you begin to believe that.” So, “I always questioned, ‘Is God real?’” She was among students from four Catholic high schools in North Dakota who were about to make a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi where, among other highlights, they would view the body of Carlo, a teenage millennial saint who will be canonized April 27. “When I found out we were going to visit Carlo Acutis, I couldn’t not go,” she said. Her budding sense of hope is palpable.
The students’ two-week pilgrimage, in many ways, parallels our six-week pilgrimage through Lent to Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. Each pilgrimage required sacrifice — for the high schoolers, no cell phones and disengagement from technology — and for us, various forms of fasting; almsgiving, of money or of our time; and prayer. Practicing all three disciplines fosters our conversion, deepening our relationship with Christ and with others.
In the Epistle for the Easter Vigil (Romans 6:3-11), Paul preaches about the meaning of our baptism and its transformative effect on our lives. “It is not enough to be baptized and remain passive,” theologian Maria Enid Barga cautions in her commentary. “Our baptism entails living in a way that our deeds and words manifest to the world our inner transformation that comes from our new life in Christ,” Barga says. Christ’s “resurrection lays the foundation for our hope in our own final resurrection” (“Workbook for Lectors, Gospel Readers, and Proclaimers of the Word” 2025).
Viewers of “Carlo Acutis” watch the high schoolers experience transformation as they explore the center of our universal Church and the life of a teenage saint for whom God was real in a very powerful way, in the Eucharist. Our transformative experiences may be closer to home and less dramatic, but all of us are called to continuing conversion and to sharing the reason for our hope: the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who loves us unconditionally.
“Carlo’s deep devotion to the Eucharist allowed him not simply to live his life with joy, but also with deep hope,” Msgr. James Shea, president of the University of Mary says in the documentary. Carlo’s steadfast relationship with Christ inspired him to be a light for others. How is our ongoing conversion inspiring us to share the light of Christ with others, especially people most in need of hope?
In a digital world that conversely provokes delight and despair, our teenagers need the light of Christ in their lives. Our present age leaves little room for “patience, one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit,” which “sustains our hope and strengthens it as a virtue and a way of life,” Pope Francis says in “Spes non confundit” (“Hope does not disappoint”). The “interplay of hope and patience makes us see clearly that the Christian life is a journey calling for moments of greater intensity to encourage and sustain hope as the constant companion that guides our steps towards the goal of our encounter with the Lord Jesus.” In what ways do we need to be patient with others and ourselves, to foster hope?
Carlo, who was born in 1991, the year the Internet arrived on the scene, embraced the technology but (wise beyond his years) also understood its limits. He created a website featuring eucharistic miracles that inspired countless people. Yet, he nurtured relationships with Christ, his family, friends and people on the margins of society. “His goal was to get people off of his website and back into the Church,” evangelist Chris Stefanick said. “He realized it (the internet) as an instrument that had fantastic power, if used well for evangelization,” his mother, Antonia Salzana Acutis said. How can we as faithful citizens be role models in using digital media for the good of others, building bridges between differing viewpoints?
Emily learned shortly before her pilgrimage that her mother has a brain tumor. During the pilgrimage, Emily felt angry with God and her faith was waning. In prayer, she sensed God’s reassurance that “you might be angry with me now, but I have a plan for you …” By the end of the pilgrimage, Emily’s budding hope is evident. “… [We] have to not only help ourselves in our faith but to help others around us grow in our faith as well.” Emily’s epiphany can be ours this Easter season and beyond.
(Editor’s note: to find a movie theater showing “Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality” go to carloacutisfilm.com/buy-ticket)
Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org
