Today is September 17, Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read in the Psalm at today’s Mass, “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart in the company and assembly of the just. Great are the works of the LORD, exquisite in all their delights” (Ps 111:1-2).
Carlo Acutis understood something most of us forget: time is a gift. He once said, “Life is a gift, because as long as we are on this planet, we can grow in our ability to love. The more we learn to love, the more we will enjoy eternal blessedness with God.” For Carlo, every moment was an opportunity to become holy.
He often warned that “every minute that passes in vain is a missed opportunity to become more holy.” Time, therefore, is too precious to squander on what is displeasing to God. This conviction gave urgency to his daily choices. It is why he filled his life with prayer, service and joy instead of wasting hours in distraction or sin.
Seeking kairos
Carlo believed that God created time for us not as a burden, but as a space where we can encounter him. In Christ, the eternal entered into time, and by his presence every moment is charged with meaning. Jesus bridges the gap between time and eternity, inviting us to live each day in communion with God’s everlasting “today.”
This is what Christians call kairos — the “special time” of grace, where God meets us in the ordinary and transforms it. For Carlo, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, were the clearest signs of this. Each Mass was a moment where heaven touched earth, where time opened onto eternity.
Carlo’s life reminds us that holiness does not require dramatic gestures. It requires fidelity in the present moment. To live time well is to live it with God — whether in prayer, study, friendship, or service. Every moment can be offered, every action can be love.
Let us pray,
Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart. 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.
