Today is September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
We read at today’s Mass, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:16-17).
Carlo Acutis often warned that when people are consumed by material things, they risk forgetting the supernatural riches of God — especially the sacraments. He pointed out that our “frenetic pace of life” makes us forget an essential truth: sooner or later, each of us must climb Golgotha.
He says, “Our frenetic pace of life has made us forget that each of us must climb Golgotha sooner or later. Our journey on this earth is marked from the beginning: We are all invited to take up our cross and climb Golgotha.”
‘Follow me’
Carlo did not mean this in a gloomy way. For him, the cross was not only suffering, but also the path of love. He knew that Christ had already carried the weight of the cross for us, and that every cross we bear is united to His. To “work in faith” for Carlo meant to accept life’s difficulties — not with resignation, but with trust that God uses them to draw us closer to heaven.
The young Carlo embraced this truth even before his final illness. He did not wait for extraordinary trials to begin carrying his cross. Instead, he practiced it in small, daily fidelities: obedience at home, patience with classmates, perseverance in prayer. When leukemia came, his heart was already trained. He carried his cross with serenity, offering his suffering for the pope and for the Church.
Carlo shows us that the cross is not something to run from or to fear. It is part of our identity as Christians. Jesus tells us plainly, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Lk 9:23). Carlo believed that holiness is forged here — by uniting our crosses with Christ’s and trusting that Golgotha leads not to despair but to resurrection.
Let us pray,
O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
