Discouraged by the impossibility of going to daily Mass, Matteo receives unexpected help from new blessed Carlo Acutis.
For the last three years, since my family and I moved into a new home, I have been unable to attend Mass on a daily basis as I used to. Between the distance I have to travel to church and work and family commitments it's simply not possible any more.
However, the desire to live the gesture of the Mass daily remains. Recently I felt very discouraged when I realized that the opportunity would no longer be there in the future.
At the same time, in the days when I was feeling sad about it, I read the news about the beatification of Carlo Acutis in a couple different articles online. As I read, I discovered that Carlo’s affection for Christ was the same one I have: ”Mass, Eucharistic adoration and the Rosary were daily appointments that he never failed to keep.”
So, one night I asked Carlo to help me with this issue. And his answer came very soon. A couple days later, a newspaper headline drew my attention: “A patron saint of the internet? The pope is on it." Reading the article, I was struck by the following extracts: "Last year, Pope Francis paid tribute to the teenager, declaring that his use of the internet to communicate values and beauty was the perfect antidote to the dangers of social media. . . . [He] saw the internet as a way to spread the faith."
These phrases led me to think that maybe I could try to follow Mass online--an idea that sounded a bit strange. I thought That would not be valid or, to say the least, it's not as good as being there physically. But I welcomed it as a sign to follow, and the next morning after at 6:30 a.m. EST I opened my i-Pad and looked for an online celebration. I couldn’t find anything that was being live-streamed and, reluctantly, I finally gave in to the idea of attending a recorded Mass.
At the end of the celebration, after reciting the spiritual prayer, I had the sense that I had received the Lord the same way as it has always happened inside a church. I was very happy and surprised, so I now connect every morning to the recorded Mass via the internet. What a precious gesture!
Moreover, connected to this event, I found Father Carrón's intervention at the last online School of Community led by him on October 21 and recently published on the CL website:
Let’s not impose any measure on His creativity in reaching us, something we continue to see. As we said at Beginning Day, we need to challenge and help each other on this point. We told each other that respecting the rules cannot be an objection for a life that is vibrant and alive, but rather a great opportunity to express in new ways the creativity and originality that comes from the experience we live. With regard to our gestures, we asked, if a gesture is something that has the ability to touch me and change me, what can allow this change to take place? What can move the core of our “I”? Is just a physical presence, by itself, able to do that? I leave you with these questions so that everyone can test the method of experience to answer in a truly human way. In fact, the Mystery constantly exceeds all of our measures.
Looking at this experience, I am happily surprised to see how my faith is firmly sustained by gestures that happen online, even if recorded! And I also begin to realize that what allows the Event to happen, which is Him in action, is first and foremost the readiness of my heart with which I welcome His Presence in the way He chooses to be present in every moment of the day. So, faith is really the act of recognition of Someone so attractive that it makes me look deeply into every circumstance. What I see in there fills my heart every time in such a complete and unforeseen way that I realize I am looking at Him again.
Matteo, Miami, Florida