Highway to heaven
St. Carlo Acutis proves holiness is possible in ordinary teenage life
Editor’s note: A traveling exhibit of relics of St. Carlo Acutis began early this year, with stops in the United States, including Ohio. For many who come to venerate them, the relics — heart tissue, a strand of hair, a scrap of clothing, and a scrap of sheet from his deathbed — are reminders that holiness is possible here and now, even in a world shaped by screens, code, and constant connection. Father Kevin Scalf, C.PP.S., chaplain and teacher at McNicholas High School, offered a homily for teens and young adults the first night of the exhibit, at Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, in downtown Cincinnati.
Imagine this: You’re fifteen years old. (Maybe you are!) You love gaming — Minecraft, Mario, Halo, FIFA. You’re on Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok. Trying to figure out who you are, what you’re about, how to fit in, how to stand out. Your parents are busy, school is stressful, and the future feels huge, and confusing. And in the middle of it all … the middle of normal teenage life … you become a saint!
That’s not a fairy tale. That’s the story of Carlo Acutis — now, officially, Saint Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, canonized in 2025.
He was born in 1991 — the same generation as your older siblings or cousins. He grew up in Milan, Italy. Wore Nike shoes and blue jeans. Played video games (… but limited himself to one hour so it wouldn’t control his life. Some of my students at McNicholas High School have tried this. And they’ve had great success!). Carlo was good with computers — like, really good. Taught himself programming and web design!
But here’s what made him different: he decided that Jesus was his number one priority, and he never let anything — not popularity, not distractions, not even fear — change that plan.
And he encountered Jesus most powerfully in the Eucharist. He used to say: “The Eucharist is my highway to heaven.” Think about that for a second. A highway. Not a hidden path, discoverable only by the “super-holy.” A highway — wide, direct, fast, for everyone. And for Carlo, that highway was daily Mass and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
He went to Mass every day, even when his friends thought it was weird. He said that standing in front of Jesus in the Eucharist was like standing in front of the sun: “People who put themselves before the sun get tanned … people who put themselves before the Eucharist become saints.”
He believed the more time he spent with Jesus in the Eucharist, the more he became like Jesus in life! And he wanted everyone to do the same.
So what did he do? He didn’t keep it to himself. He used what he was good at — technology — to communicate his faith to others. As a teenager, he built a website that catalogued every official Eucharistic miracle in the world. He researched, he wrote, he designed it, he put it online so anyone — anywhere — could see the evidence that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. That site is still up today, still helping people believe.
Through it all, he wasn’t preaching “at” people. He was sharing “with” people — what he loved most — the same way you share a fire TikTok, or a new game that has you obsessed.
And then came the hardest part. At fifteen he was diagnosed with leukemia. He knew he was dying. And his response?
“I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for the Pope, and for the Church, so I don’t have to go to purgatory, and can go straight to heaven.”
He died on Oct. 12, 2006. Fifteen. And now the whole Church calls him “Saint Carlo.” So what does he say to us — to you — right now, on Feb. 10, 2026?
1. Don’t wait to become holy. You don’t need to be a nun, religious brother, deacon, or priest, or priest of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood — like me — or thirty years old, or 60 years old — to be holy. Carlo shows that ordinary teenage life — school, friends, phones, sports, memes — can be the exact place where you become a saint.
2. Your interests are not the enemy. Carlo loved computers, gaming, and tech. He didn’t throw them away to be holy. He baptized them, as it were. He used them for Jesus. What do you love? Art? Sports? Music? Streaming? Coding? Fashion? Whatever it is — you can make it a highway to God, instead of a detour away from God.
3. Eucharist changes everything. Carlo’s secret weapon wasn’t willpower. It was Jesus present. He believed that receiving Communion often, and spending time in Adoration, literally makes you more like Christ. If your faith feels dry or weak, maybe the answer isn’t trying harder — maybe it’s going to Jesus more often.
So here’s my challenge to you today: Take one thing you already love (your phone, your talent, your group chat) and ask: “How can I use this to bring someone closer to Jesus?”
If a normal fifteen-year-old gamer, who liked Pokémon and Nike, could become a saint … you can, too.
Hear more from Father Kevin on Restoring Hope, the podcast of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.