Parishioners venerate relic of Italian teen Bl. Carlo Acutis at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Paducah during the first weekend of November 2024. COURTESY OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Bl. Carlo Acutis relic comes to St. John the Evangelist Parish
BY FR. BRUCE FOGLE, SPECIAL TO THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
The Eucharist Revival in the United States has as one of its patron saints Bl. Carlo Acutis. Bl. Carlo knew, lived and taught that Jesus in the Eucharist is the “highway to Heaven.” Knowing that this millennial blessed, soon to be a saint, is to be an inspiration and example during these years of Eucharistic Revival for us, St. John the Evangelist Parish worked hard to make his life known to our parishioners young and older alike.
Before the fall semester began, we blessed our students, teachers and catechists for the new school year. Along with the blessing, we gave them all a graphic novel about the life of Bl. Carlo to read and ask his intercession during the school year. Later, we had a display of many of the Eucharistic Miracles that he catalogued online from his computer. Then, for All Saints’ Day and the following weekend, we were entrusted with his first-class relic from the Diocese of Trenton’s Blessed Carlo Acutis Shrine, for public veneration. During the public display, we received a visit from the 7th-12th grade faith formation classes of St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield, totaling more than 100 young people from that parish alone.
Many came for prayerful veneration and intercession of Bl. Carlo. Through his intercession, may all fall in love with Jesus, making the Eucharist as our “highway to Heaven,” along with the tender motherly love of Mary through the rosary.
Fr. Bruce Fogle is the pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Paducah.
The 7th-12th graders of St. Joseph’s faith formation program in Mayfield (a total of more than 100 students across the six classes) ask Bl. Carlo Acutis’ intercession for their lives during public veneration of the teen’s relic at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Paducah on the first weekend of November 2024. COURTESY OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST
Originally printed in the December 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
