THE FACE OF GOD IN THE BODY OF CHRIST
‘Jesus is very creative because he hides in a little piece of bread, and only God could do something so incredible!’ (Carlo Acutis)
7 Sep 2025 will be a special day for all millennials: Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young Italian who put together the exhibition website The Eucharistic Miracles of the World before he died of leukaemia at age 15 on 12 Oct 2006, will finally be canonised, to the great joy of his generation, and those following his Highway to Heaven.
Carlo was supposed to have been canonised on 27 Apr, but it was postponed with the passing of Pope Francis on 21 Apr. In his short life, Carlo was fascinated by the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated Host and documented its miracles around the world. He never went a day without receiving the Eucharist, saying it was his ‘highway to heaven’ as he wanted to go ‘straight there after death’. He couldn’t understand why people didn’t get that Jesus is really alive, there in the tabernacle. “How can people grasp this truth?” he pondered to his mother, “Throngs of people stand in interminable lines to buy tickets to rock concerts or soccer matches, but I don’t see crowds of people lined up outside church waiting to see Jesus in the Eucharist. This should make us pause and reflect.”
An ordinary boy of our times, engaged in normal pastimes of Halo, Mario, and Pokémon, soccer, and coding, with an extraordinary love of the Body of Christ.
His tremendous love of the Blood and Body of the very-much-alive Son of God is what we’re called to spread as we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi today, and Carlo clearly showed that he walked in the steps of the woman behind the institution of this important celebration.
Who exactly was this woman to whom we owe this feast day?
‘Jesus is really present to the world, just as when his apostles and disciples saw him walk the streets of Jerusalem.’ (Carlo Acutis)
St Juliana of Liège (also known as St. Juliana of Cornillon) was born in 1191 in a village in Liège – now Belgium – and raised by Augustinian nuns from the age of 5, when she and her twin sister, Agnes, were orphaned. St Juliana herself became a nun in the same order, and grew particularly strong in her devotion to the Eucharist. She often reflected on Matthew’s quote of Jesus’: ‘And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.’ (Mt 28:20), and would deeply sense Christ’s presence.
At 16, St Juliana had a vision during Eucharistic Adoration: she saw the full moon with a dark stripe across its face. This vision came to her several times, and she received divine knowledge that the moon represented the life of the Church on Earth, while the dark stripe represented the absence of a liturgical feast that honoured the Blessed Sacrament.
God further revealed that she needed to plead for such a feast so that the Eucharist could be adored among all people to increase their faith, expand the practices of virtue, and make reparation for offences to the Blessed Sacrament.
Not wanting to call attention to herself, she kept these visions to herself for 20 years, but she obeyed God’s request to spread Eucharistic adoration everywhere, although she faced harsh opposition from some clergy, even her superior, and had her life made greatly difficult. One person she did convince was Jacques Pantaleon of Troyes, the Archdeacon in Liège, who went on to become Pope Urban IV. Believing in St Juliana’s earnest, steadfast cause, in 1264 he instituted the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Thursday after the Most Holy Trinity, as a feast of percept for the universal Church. He wrote:
“Although the Eucharist is celebrated solemnly every day, we deem it fitting that at least once a year it be celebrated with greater honor and a solemn commemoration. Indeed, we grasp the other things we commemorate with our spirit and our mind, but this does not mean that we obtain their real presence. On the contrary, in this sacramental commemoration of Christ, even though in a different form, Jesus Christ is present with us in his own substance. While he was about to ascend into Heaven he said, ‘And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Matt 28:20).”
‘If we think about it, we are much more fortunate than those who met Jesus on this earth two thousand years ago, because we have God ‘really and substantially’ with us always.’ (Carlo Acutis)
We may not be blessed with visions or revelations, but in the Eucharist, like the saints we’re made one with God because we take Him right into ourselves and share our – and His – corporeal selves. It’s the promise He made to always be with us even though He ascended to heaven.
He said He would never leave us and He’s been keeping that promise for millennia.
Melchizedek’s offering of bread and wine, and Jesus’ feeding of the crowd, both reflect God’s covenant with His people, reminding them that God loved them and was faithful to them. The Eucharist is the new covenant that Jesus made with us through his Body and Blood, and it reminds us of the same thing: that 2,000 years later God still loves us and remains faithful to us. Paul corrects the Christians at Corinth to stop misconduct during their celebration of the Lord’s Supper, reminding them that proclaiming the death of the Lord means confessing one's faith in the whole mystery of Christ, and all that He means for believers.
Every time we receive the Blessed Sacrament, we have the chance to deepen our bond with God, adore Him in our physical selves, and rejoice in His promise to be right here with us.
What other faiths can say that the one true God not only deigns to live within our bodies, but desires and delights in it?
It’s an incredible privilege God gives us; one we should never take for granted. Instead, we should be running towards God in the Eucharist every chance we get. As Carlo Acutis said, ‘[Through the Eucharist], you go directly to heaven, and we are given the opportunity to do it every day.’
‘The more we nourish ourselves on the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ, the more we will be able to love… the Eucharist configures us in a special way to God, who is Love.’ (Carlo Acutis)
The Eucharist (Greek eucharistia for ‘thanksgiving’) is the central act of our worship, and Christ meant for us, as one family, to worship together, communally – something Paul points out is from the Lord Himself, a holy tradition they are to continue as a united congregation, not divided in their common worship. He spells out the origin and purpose of their shared meal: a time not for lavish display or feasting ahead of their poorer members, but a time to reflect on what Jesus has done in giving His life for others, a time for self-examination, a time to come back together as the Body of Christ on Earth.
What does this mean for our own participation in the celebration of Corpus Christi?
Like the inception of the Lord’s Supper of Jesus and His disciples, the Eucharistic celebration today is a community event in which each of us actively participates. We affirm our faith in His life, death, and resurrection; and in His ‘holy Catholic Church’, before we join in the offering of His Body and Blood, and then unite ourselves intimately with Him.
It’s the time we remember and thank God as a community—the Body of Christ—and the time when we express that unity through the eating and drinking together of that Body.
It would be a pity, therefore, if we were to be not fully present at this momentous event, or approach it as anything less than a miracle happening right in front of our eyes. It would be a diminishing of our belief if we were to forget transubstantiation is taking place at the altar, that God Himself is coming down to give us His very blood and body.
It would be a loss of opportunity to bond ourselves to His chosen family on Earth and in heaven, if we were to let anything or anyone distract us, annoy us, or give in to the unspiritual side of us that tells us to come late or leave early, or give in to resentment over any aspect of the celebration that we dislike or disagree with.
The whole point of being at Mass is to celebrate – together – this amazing gift of Jesus’ corporeal self willingly fusing with ours. Just like the disciples united with Him at the Last Supper.
‘If we reflected on this seriously, we would never leave Him alone in the tabernacles waiting for us with love, wanting to help us and to support us on our earthly journey.’ (Carlo Acutis)
How do we walk out of the church, carrying the essence of our God inside us? What are we to do with the miracle that is working within our bodies?
Corpus Christi is a day to reflect on the depth of God’s love and faithfulness, and how we can live as part of His covenant. This includes returning His love in concrete ways, staying faithful to Him above all else, and trusting that He will provide. This feast day should help us focus on the ways Jesus strengthens us through the gift of his Body and Blood, show us again how to receive this gift with gratitude, and share His love with others so that ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.’ (John 13:35).
Jesus shows that the little we place in His hands in faith and trust is enough for Him to serve multitudes. In whatever aspect of our lives that we allow Him entry, He can use what the Father has given us to give of both Himself and ourselves, to spread His peace, His comfort, His Word, to the rest of the world.
Oh, that we would only allow His physical presence in our bodies to be His hands, His feet, His voice!
‘The more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we become like Jesus and the more we get a foretaste of heaven.’ (Carlo Acutis)
Carlo found his faith deepening and his spiritual strength shored up by receiving the Blessed Sacrament daily. His life was filled with joy, despite his poor health, and he was perpetually looking out for chances to help the poor and those searching for God.
The Eucharist calls us to an equally full life, giving of ourselves generously while staying firmly rooted to the presence of Christ inside us. To make this happen this week, we might want to reflect on these:
· How can I show God my gratitude for the gift of the Eucharist this week?
· What concerns do I need to place in God’s hands with full trust in His care and providence?
· Whom can I ‘feed’ this week? How can I do so?
· How can I make time to seek Jesus in the Eucharist one extra day this week?
· How can I prepare myself better to receive Him in Holy Communion this week?
‘To always be close to Jesus, that's my life plan.’ (Carlo Acutis)
How deeply do we long to see Jesus face to face? To hold and be held by Him?
Throughout his life, short as it was, Carlo spoke of his one goal: to always be close to Jesus. That was his only game plan. Everything he did was to stay laser-focused on that goal, so much so that he could say, at the end of his life, ‘I am happy to die because I have lived my life without wasting a minute on those things that do not please God.’
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could say the same, when our time comes?
It’s not at all a one-sided desire. In Matthew 26:29, Jesus spoke of His great longing for the day when He would celebrate His ultimate Supper with us in heaven. He is waiting for all His people to be gathered to Him, and then there will be a great supper: the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9). Before then, however, He eagerly lives with us, as often as we allow Him to. Like Carlo and the saints who lived in love with Him, we can have the same kind of life by taking His living presence into ourselves. We need never be alone!
Finally, we turn to the other saint who lived in deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist: St Faustina. In her suffering, she found strength and peace through prayer and union with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Today, take a few moments in front of the monstrance to pray St Faustina’s Litany to the Blessed Host.
Let its verses draw you ever closer in burning love to the beloved Body and Blood of Christ, present in the Eucharist, in which your soul will gaze upon the face of God:
Litany to the Blessed Host
O Blessed Host, in golden chalice enclosed for me,
That through the vast wilderness of exile I may pass
Pure, immaculate, undefiled;
Oh, grant that through the power of Your love
This might come to be.
O Blessed Host, take up Your dwelling within my soul,
O Thou my heart’s purest love!
With Your brilliance the darkness dispel.
Refuse not Your grace to a humble heart.
O Blessed Host, enchantment of all heaven,
Though Your beauty be veiled
And captured in a crumb of bread,
Strong faith tears away that veil.
The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska
May the Body and Blood of Christ that you receive, with your acceptance and obedience work miracles in your life, the lives of your loved ones, and the lives of those whom the Father is calling through you this week. Blessed Feast Day!
Article by Joyce Norma, HFC Blog Contributor