How would you describe a saint? 

From the outside, Carlo Acutis was just another regular boy. He wore jeans and Nikes. He played video games and loved sports. He grew up playing outside and enjoying time with his friends. But there was one thing that set Carlo apart from many of the other teens he knew: he loved Jesus. 

Carlo’s faith was at the center of all he did, but that didn’t mean living some ancient, impossible lifestyle. Loving God simply meant that Carlo prayed every day and went to Mass as often as he could. It meant that he cared for the people around him, whether that person was a friend at school or someone who was struggling on the street. And most famously, he used his computer skills to create a website that tracked every known Eucharistic miracle in the world. 

Carlo’s ordinary life was cut short by leukemia, but his legacy lives on…and it proves something amazing: holiness is possible for very ordinary people. 

Many people think holiness is not possible for them. But that is a lie. In fact, it is the biggest lie in the history of Christianity. It is worth noting that this lie is not one that non-Christians tell. It is

a lie we tell ourselves as Christians. The great majority of modern Christians don’t actually believe that holiness is possible. Sure, we believe it is possible for our grandmothers or some medieval saint—just not for us. We don’t actually believe that holiness is possible for us.

Search your heart. Do you believe holiness is possible for you? No doubt there is a complex series of psychological reasons and excuses that cause us to accept and believe the lie that holiness is not possible. It is diabolical in its subtlety, an evil genius in its simplicity. It is astounding that just one lie can neutralize the majority of Christians. That’s right, neutralize. This lie takes us out of the game and turns us into mere spectators in the epic story of Christianity. It may be the devil’s biggest triumph in modern history. It is the holocaust of Christian spirituality. In a thousand ways every day we tell ourselves and each other: Holiness is not possible. But it is a lie. And we cannot experience the complete joy that God wants for us and that we want for ourselves until we get beyond it. 

Here’s the truth: holiness is possible. Holiness was possible for Carlo—an ordinary boy who grew up in the nineties in Italy. And it’s possible for you.



Feast Day: October 12 

Feast Day Shared By: Saint Wilfrid, Saint Edistus, and Saint Seraphin of Montegranaro

Patron Saint of: Youth, The Internet, and Computer Programmers

Also Known As: The First Millennial Saint

Symbols: The Eucharist and Eucharistic Miracles

Beatified: October 10, 2020

Beatified By: Pope Francis