Hope in the Holy Communion

“If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man”— St. John Vianney

This weekend we went to the Cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens to see an exhibition of the Eucharistic Miracles around the world. As amazing as the exhibition was, what impacted me the most was the young boy that put it together.

Carlo Acutis was born in London on May 3, 1991, to Italian parents who moved the family to Milan when he was 3 months old. It was there that Carlo grew up, attending local schools and then a Jesuit high school. From a young age, Carlo seemed to have a special love for God and Our Lady, even though his parents weren’t especially devout. Carlo made the effort to recite the Rosary daily and, after his first Communion at age 7, also strove to receive the Eucharist daily and to attend confession weekly. 

Carlo was exceptionally compassionate and mature even as a child, but he also led a very normal life: he went to school, he played sports, and he played video games. One of his most significant computer ventures was cataloguing all the Eucharistic miracles of the world. He started the project when he was 11 years old and wrote at the time, “The more Eucharist we receive, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of Heaven.” Carlo researched over 136 Eucharistic miracles that occurred over the centuries in different countries around the world, and have been acknowledged by the Church, and collected them into a virtual museum. Besides creating a website to house this virtual museum, he helped create panel presentations that have traveled around the world.

As a teenager, Carlo was diagnosed with leukemia. He offered his sufferings for Pope Benedict XVI and for the Church, saying “"I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and the Church.” He died on Oct. 12, 2006 at the age of 15. He was buried in Assisi, at his request, because of his love for St. Francis of Assisi. His cause for canonization began in 2013. He was designated “Venerable” in 2018, and was designated “Blessed” October 10, 2020 by Pope Francis. His heart, which can now be considered a relic, is displayed in a reliquary in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. 

I was fascinated by his story and his love of the Eucharist. Carlo teaches us that anyone can achieve holiness, no matter their age or their state in life, as long as their love for God is at the center of their lives. This young boy certainly came with a mission, which was to spread the truth about Holy Communion, which is that when the host is consecrated, it becomes the true body and blood of Christ. I knew of some Eucharistic miracles, but I did not know there had been so many. As I walked around the exhibition, I was captivated by the realization that we can place our hope in the Holy Communion. I had just received some bad news, and I had just finished praying a rosary, but as I watched the video about the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis, and I read the different panels that talked about all these Eucharistic miracles, I realized what an amazing treasure Christ left us in the Eucharist. As Carlo told his mother once, people stand in line for hours to see a famous football player or a movie star, and yet, the tabernacles around the world are alone because people do not know of the real presence of Christ within them.

We spent two hours at the exhibition, reading as many stories as we possibly could. One of my favorite took place in 1348 in a small town near Valencia, Spain. A priest on his way to take Holy Communion to some sick people, slipped in a river and lost the ciborium which contained the consecrated Hosts. Some stunned fishermen witnessed several fish with discs in their mouth which appeared to be Hosts. The priest ran to the church, returned with another ciborium, and saw with astonishment the fish deposit the Hosts in the chalice. A group of men and women witnessed the scene, and there are numerous documents testifying to the miracle.  Here’s a photo of the panels depicting the story:

As we were leaving the exhibition, one of the attendants told us to pray to Blessed Carlo Acutis for his intercession. “He answers right away,” she said. We attended mass in the cathedral, and I followed her advice. I prayed to Carlo Acutis for his intercession. When I received Holy Communion, I placed all my hope that the bad news we had received on our way there, would be resolved through Carlo’s intercession and the help of our Blessed Mother. As I received the Body of Christ, I was filled with such peace, that all my worries disappeared. By placing my hope in the Holy Communion, I knew that Christ was in charge and that I had nothing to worry about.

As Lent starts this week, I’m going to attempt to go to daily mass more often, and pay a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a few times. 

Blessed Carlo Acutis, pray for us and all our intentions. 

Copyright © 2022 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.

If you want to learn more about Blessed Carlo Acutis and the Eucharistic miracles, here’s the link to his website:

http://www.carloacutis.com/en/association/mostra-miracoli-eucaristici

A Baby’s Eyes Reflect the Hope of Heaven

“You know what the great thing about babies is? They are like little bundles of hope. Like the future in a basket.”

- Lish McBride

We spent the last five days in New York with our son, daughter-in-love and 3-month-old grandson. Looking at his little face, I saw joyful hope. Hope in a brighter future. Hope that the seeds we planted in our son will flourish in his son. Hope that life still holds promise in spite of all the bad news we get bombarded with on a daily basis. When I looked into his eyes, I saw the hope of heaven.

Lately, on my way to and from work, I have been listening to podcasts. One of my subscriptions is “Beloved and Blessed” by Kimberly Hahn. In a recent episode, she shared a conversation that she had with her husband, Dr. Scott Hahn, who is a well known author and speaker. Kimberly was talking to him about her worries regarding the kind of world that her grandkids will grow up in. I agree 

with her. I have been concerned about the rotten ways of the world and what my grandson will have to face in the future. Walking through New York, we were constantly surrounded by the smell of marihuana. Over the weekend, there were six different stabbings in the New York subways. How can I not be worried? As I was pushing his stroller through the city, I was overwhelmed by this powerful sense that I had to protect this innocent baby boy.

But then, I remembered Dr. Hahn’s response to his wife: “We are not supposed to give our children and grandchildren the world. We are supposed to give them heaven.” I found this to be very profound. After all, we are in the world for a short amount of time but heaven is forever. Therefore, when I look into my grandson’s eyes, what I see is the hope of heaven. I hope that he grows up to be a man for others. I hope that he has a kind and generous heart because the most joyful people happen to be the most generous. I hope that he is caring and loving. I hope that he is meek and gentle. I hope that he is humble of heart. I hope that he has a temperate spirit that will keep him from falling into temptation. I hope that he is gifted with the virtue of diligence so that he sets the world on fire, the kind of fire that comes from within so that he leaves the world better than he found it. And I hope that his heart will be so full of spiritual treasures that it won’t fit inside his chest. 

I am so grateful to God for the gift of my grandson. At first, I was concerned for his future, but now, I have turned my worries into hope. I am not going to worry about the condition of the world. My only concern will be to help my son and daughter-in-love cultivate virtues in my grandson’s heart so that he can be a channel of grace that will allow God to bring love into the world. That is how we will gift him with the hope of heaven which is far more important than gifting him the world. 

I love you baby Benedict more than you will ever know. You have brought so much hope and happiness into our family. May your eyes always reflect the hope of heaven. 

Copyright © 2022 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.

Hoping for Forgiveness

"If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive."

— St. Teresa of Calcutta

This week in my Emmaus chat group, we had a very interesting discussion about the topic of forgiveness. “What exactly does it mean to forgive? Does it mean that you have to accept something that you believe is wrong?” These questions opened up the dialogue.

Many years ago, a person that was like a second mother to me, did something very painful. I won’t go into the details but I can say that it was such a breach of trust that it shattered our relationship. Our families were so close that we used to spend all our holidays together. What she did, hurt me to the core of my being. I was 32 years old at the time, and I had never felt so betrayed. Needless to say, we stopped talking and I didn’t see her again for years. I had not realized how much pain I had been carrying in my heart until one day when out of the blue, she called me. She was at Baptist Hospital with her husband who was in a comma after having had a stroke just a few days earlier.

When she called, all the pain of what she had done all those years ago came rushing into my heart like a current of water from a river. My first thought was just to say: “I’m sorry that this happened and hang up.” But I knew that if she had called me was because she didn’t have anyone else to turn to, and I just couldn’t turn my back on her. At the time, I lived across from Baptist Hospital. I asked her if she wanted me to go to the hospital but she said he was in ICU and I would not be able to see him. I realized then that what she really needed was to get out of that hospital for a few hours. I asked her if she wanted to stop by our house and she came over. She needed an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. As I offered that to her, I silently forgave her and the pain I had been carrying was released from my heart like a balloon flying away in the wind.

Holding a grudge against someone hurts the grudge holder more than the other person. And yet, we choose to drag grudges around like a sack full of rocks. I say choose because forgiveness is a very personal choice. Forgiving doesn’t mean that we are going to forget. There’s a big difference between forgiving and forgetting. Forgiving is necessary. Forgetting is impossible. Forgiveness soothes the heart and helps us release the pain that we have been carrying around. It would be great if we could forget but our memories are a part of us and it’s not that easy to push them away.

I am sure that all of us, at some point, whether intentionally or unintentionally, have done something that has hurt another person. Just recently, a really close friend of mine lost her sister. She sent me the information about the mass. I wrote it on my calendar but I have this horrible habit of not checking my calendar at the start of each day. On the day of the mass, I looked at my calendar at 1 pm. The mass was at 11 am. I wanted to cry. How could I have forgotten something so important? I was beyond upset at myself because I had not been present for my friend when she needed me most. I hoped for forgiveness but I honestly could not blame her if she didn’t. I thought of making up an excuse: “My car broke down or I had a stomach virus.” But she deserved my honesty no matter the consequences. I called her that night, I apologized, told her the truth and hoped she would forgive me. And she did. I’m not sure I would have been so understanding but in this situation, she was the better person. She chose to forgive.

There are many different levels of actions and relationships. It would be a lot harder to forgive a spouse that cheats on the marriage than to forgive a child that cheats on a test. It would hurt a lot more if a sibling does something painful than a friend, but it may be easier to forgive the sibling than the friend because family is forever while friends come and go. Someone that was abused as a child will have a very hard time forgiving the abuser, and even if able to, will never forget. There are scars that last a lifetime. 

I think an important question we need to ask ourselves if we are holding a grudge against someone or carrying a deep scar is: “If that person were to die tomorrow, will I be fine if I didn’t at least attempt to make amends?” If the answer is no, then we need to reach out and try to say the words: “I forgive you.” It’s best to swallow our pride once than live with regrets for the rest of our lives. 

My friend’s husband died a few days later. She never brought up what had torn our relationship apart. She never asked for forgiveness and I never said the words out loud, but in my heart, i forgave her. I went to his funeral and I was with her at her time of need. I was surprised that there were not a lot of people at his funeral when their house had always been filled with friends. I remember that she said at the funeral that most of her friends had turned their backs on them. I wondered if what she did to me, she also did to them. 

That was the last day I saw her. Our relationship had been damaged and it could not return to what it had once been. Unfortunately, forgetting is not a choice I can make because even though I may not remember what I ate yesterday or where I’m supposed to go today, I remember everything from my past. But I no longer carry a grudge against her. I forgave her and I moved on. That was a conscious choice I made, and my heart feels a lot lighter than it did before God granted me the opportunity to be with her one last time when she needed me most. Or just maybe, I was the one that needed her most because I needed to forgive her so I could have closure.

I hope that if I have ever done anything hurtful, that you forgive me. I hope that if I ever do anything hurtful in the future, that you will forgive me. I like to think that I would never do anything intentionally to hurt another person, but I am human. So I apologize for my absent mindedness that sometimes makes me forget important events, and for my tongue that sometimes gets me in trouble, and for my perfectionist personality that sometimes expects too much… I hope you forgive me, not for me, but for yourself. I don’t want to be a pain in your heart. 

Copyright © 2022 Christy Romero. All rights reserved.