I must admit, I LOVE the Saints! No, not the rock band and not the football club, but I mean our adopted family in Heaven. So, naturally, the opportunity to be in the presence of a first-class relic (fragment of the actual body of a saint) and exhibition of one of my most recently favourite saints in our Diocese was a no-brainer.

A month ago, our Diocese hosted the international Eucharistic Miracle exhibition by Bl. Carlo Acutis. What draws me to Bl. Carlo is his steadfast love for God and his Church and the fact he is like you and me. He was a young teen who lived an ordinary 21^st century life, went to school, played football, loved travelling and playing video games, and loved eating Nutella (I write this as I have a jar of Nutella sitting next to me and LOVE it too!) He even wore a spiderman outfit as a child and loved his pets (his dogs, cats and goldfish). He was tech savvy with a passion for computer programming and research, and coupled that with his deep love for Jesus in the Eucharist, he created a website that catalogued all the Church-approved Eucharistic Miracles that have occurred over the last 2000 years across the world.

I was aware of this freely accessible Eucharistic Miracles website (https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/en/liste/list.html) created by Bl. Carlo, since his beatification in 2020, of which I have been accessing from time to time. But to see it displayed on large panels was mind-blowing! Why? Because in that Toohey Room was written evidence of Jesus’ love for us and promise before His Ascension into Heaven, “remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

How is Jesus with us? In the Eucharist.

Yes, Jesus is fully present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist. We are incredibly blessed to have this knowledge and reality in its fullness in the Catholic Church. Since its inception 2000 years ago, the Church has remained firm in this belief of Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist and views the Eucharist as the “source and summit of the Christian Life” (CCC 1324). You only have to read into the deep love and reverence shown towards the Eucharist by early Christian martyrs, Saints, Church Fathers and Doctors of the Church to be aware of how true this statement is. Let alone how central the Eucharist was in the life of this first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis.

However, because of our fallen human nature, where forgetfulness and doubt creep in, God in His compassion and mercy has time and time again, reminded and shown us and the world of this truth, that He truly is present in the Eucharist (once the Bread and Wine are consecrated in the Holy Mass). A classic example is the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano in 750AD, which wa s one of many displayed in the exhibition. What further blows me away about that miracle is the scientific investigations that were conducted on the samples taken from the Eucharist over 1000 years later, which further strengthens our belief in the Real Presence. I invite you to access this link here to read what Bl. Carlo has written on that miracle.

I praise our Lord God for having inspired His son, Carlo in those 15 years of his life, to design and create this incredible exhibition of the Eucharistic Miracles for such a time as this, where belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is waning yet again. I am also grateful to God for the gift of Kate Hobbs (curator) for her ‘fiat’ (let it be done) and zeal to go wherever she is invited to present this exhibition, and thank God for Bishop Michael, Fiona Duque and the Mission and Evangelisation team for bringing this exhibition to our Diocese.

I visited the exhibition twice that week, spending some time reading the content on a few panels, with the scientific ones mainly captivating me. I also spent a good portion of time in front of the first-class relic of Bl. Carlo, speaking to my saint brother in Heaven, asking him to intercede for us here to grow more in love with our Lord Jesus in the Eucharist and to be zealous in sharing that love with the world, just like he did and continues to do so through this exhibition. In this little way, we can carry out that great commission that Jesus left us, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19). If Bl. Carlo in 15 years could do it by God’s grace, then you and I can as well by God’s grace!

By Yvonne Rego