Become Who You Are
What’s the meaning and purpose of my life? What is my true identity? Why were we created male and female? How do I find happiness, joy and peace? How do I find love that lasts, forever? These are the timeless questions of the human heart. Join Jack Rigert and his guests for lively insights, reading the signs of our times through the lens of Catholic Teaching and the insights of Saint John Paul ll to guide us.
Saint Catherine of Siena said "Become who you are and you would set the world on fire".
Become Who You Are
#629 Saint Carlo Acutis: The Inspiring Story of God's Digital Saint and the Power of Eucharistic Love
Love to hear from you; “Send us a Text Message”
Something extraordinary is happening in Catholic communities worldwide. Young people are flocking to churches, filling pews, and rediscovering ancient truths in surprising numbers.
What's drawing this digital generation back to tradition? The answer may lie in the example of Carlo Acutis, the "saint in sneakers" who died at just 15 but left an indelible mark on modern Catholicism. Mary Beth Bracy joins us to explore "God's Influencer," revealing how this computer-programming teenager combined deep Eucharistic devotion with thoroughly modern sensibilities.
Carlo stands as a compelling counter-witness to our culture's emptiness. Join us as we explore how God continues raising up saints perfectly suited for our age—and what Carlo's remarkable life means for all seeking deeper connection in our distracted world. His example reminds us that no matter your age or circumstances, the path to transformation begins with a simple decision to let God's love transform your ordinary life into something extraordinary.
Get you copy of God's Influencer Here!
Information on Consecrated Virginity
The Little Way of Healing Love Through the Passion of Jesus: The Stations of the Cross With St. Théresè of Lisieux
Download the Claymore battle plan and begin your own journey into Scripture. Whether you're a young person seeking truth or someone who loves and guides them, these practices can transform your relationship with God's Word from obligation to life-giving encounter.
Contact Jack: info@jp2renew.org
Follow us and watch on X: John Paul II Renewal @JP2Renewal
Subscribe to our Newly Resurrected YouTube Channel!
On Rumble: JohnPaulIIRC
And said this is the beauty of it. You know, I was speaking to a group this week and I said, you know, I brought out the catechism, mary Beth, and I said you know, here's the catechism, this big book about everything Catholic. And I said do you know how it starts? Section one, chapter one, paragraph one starts with desire. It starts with desire.
Speaker 2:In addition to his parents' words, it contains actual excerpts from his journals.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think so many of us maybe have been blessed to see short quotes from him but as you're describing just such depth in what he wrote and I felt like I could take any of the passages he wrote to Eucharistic Adoration and just spend days and days with it because they're so power-packed.
Speaker 1:I just start putting that phone down. If she's talking to me or a friend is talking to me, just start putting that phone down. If she's talking to me or a friend is talking to me, I put that phone down, I put it in my pocket and it's something beautiful happens when you listen to somebody and he understood this. So the point I'm making. He said you know, it's in these ordinary, daily ways that we start to communicate. We get to know each other.
Speaker 2:One thing also about Carlo is that from the time he was little, he really wanted to read the scripture, so he would read a passage from scripture every day. But he wouldn't just read it, he would write down what was important to him or he would recall whatever lesson to be learned that day and he would put it into action.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Become who you Are podcast, a production of the John Paul II Renewal Center. I'm Jack Riggert, your host. Today we're experiencing something unexpected that's happening here in the United States and even across the Atlantic. A Catholic renaissance is taking place, especially among young people. In France, for example, over 10,000 adults were baptized this Easter, with young people leading the charge, and in a country known for its deep secularism, catholic churches are suddenly overflowing and the media is taking notice.
Speaker 1:I was just off the phone just a few minutes ago with someone who wants to schedule me in Tucson, arizona, and she said the same thing. She said it's very secular in Tucson, but she said the mass at her parish is beginning to fill up with young people Very exciting. So what's going on right? Is this a passing trend? Something that's going to get bigger? And what does that mean for us here in the United States? Something that's going to get bigger, and what does that mean for us here in the United States? Young people are looking for something more and they're looking for role models. In fact, last year, we launched an apostolate for young men. The logo is behind me, the big sword in the back, the Claymore sword, building up soldiers for Christ. And speaking of role models, we have Mary Beth Bracey with us to talk about a new book God's Influencer, holy Advice from St Carlos Acutis. St Carlos Acutis, I'm really enjoying this book, so we're going to dive into this. He's given us advice and it's really well done. Very, very well done.
Speaker 1:Mary Beth Bracey is a consecrated virgin of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, new York, that's, in upstate New York. She's a writer who is blessed to research, publish and speak extensively on various aspects of Catholic spirituality. Her books include Behold the Lamb, bread of Life, and the Little Way of Healing Love Through the Passion of Jesus. The Stations of the Cross with St Therese of Lisieux. She's also co-author of the book Stories of the Eucharist. Mary Beth has written articles for numerous Catholic publications and recorded Catholic talks. Mary Beth, welcome, great to have you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Well, I really, like I mentioned, I'm really enjoying this book. I did not finish it. I was hoping to get close to finishing. I got a couple phone calls in between, including this one I just mentioned from Arizona, but I'm really enjoying it, especially this advice that's coming from Carlos Acudas. Tell us about him.
Speaker 2:Carlo is amazing. He is basically called the saint of our century. He died at the age of 15. 15 years old 15 of leukemia, and he is the saint of the millennium, the first millennium saint, and he also is known as God's influencer. I think of him as a Thomas Aquinas in blue jeans, the saint in sneakers. So he's just. His reach is incredible.
Speaker 1:You know, when we start to think about modernity and its toll, and just when I thought the situation was becoming hopeless, right, God surprises us not only with a saint like Carlo, but God surprises us with these young people starting to wake up. So something is going on and they're seeking something more. God is always searching for ways to bring us closer to him, isn't he, Mary Beth? And what do you think is driving these young adults to come back into the church?
Speaker 2:I think that sometimes they have searched in so many different areas whether it's popular culture or they've realized that maybe the jobs they have searched in so many different areas, whether it's popular culture, or they've realized that maybe the jobs they have aren't the final source of fulfillment for them. Some of them have experimented in things like drugs to try to find a high. But then when they encounter the truth, when they encounter beauty and goodness, and when they have the opportunity to see liturgy celebrated in such a beautiful way, all of those things attract them to our Eucharistic Lord and then they just fall in love with him.
Speaker 1:You know, there's something to be said just about what's true, good and beautiful. Huh, those transcendental, you know. Virtues, you know, and they go. They're timeless. We forget about that. I think, as I'm speaking to young people, it's more than I think they have just seen. They've been grown up in this toxic culture and I, you know the human heart. Mary Beth has made for more, isn't it? Carlos Acudis? Is that how you say his last name? Is it Acudis?
Speaker 2:Yes, Carlo Acudis.
Speaker 1:Acutis, and so tell us about the book and then his advice. This book is really from his parents, right? It's an interview that his parents gave and they're really looking back at his life and really meditating or contemplating the things that he said, the things that he did, and it's just so beautiful because he has this beautiful heart. What I see in the world so often for young people and he died at 15, is their stolen innocence. You know, we're stealing their innocence from them through pornography and through moral relativism. We're obliterating their moral imaginations in so many ways and yet they're waking up. And I think that you know for Claymore, you know this Claymore sword and this logo. I think you know Carlos is going to have to be one of our patron saints of this apostolate and so when you start to think about Carlos and some of the things that he's said, give us an example of you know, give our audience like a sense of what he was like and what he spoke about.
Speaker 2:Certainly there are so many facets to his life. I think that definitely his devotion to the Holy Eucharist, to Our Lady, and just how he really sought to do God's will by living a life of virtue in a very powerful but very relative way to our times. So he really embodied virtues that we might not normally think of. For instance, his mother talks about how he showed the virtue of friendship To your point about purity with his friends. If they were struggling with chastity, he would have very honest conversations with them and he would say remember the dignity that you're called to as a child of God. So he would gently but firmly tell them the truth and challenge them to live up to that dignity.
Speaker 2:I think that Carlo is incredible because from the time he was a little boy he had that love of God planted in his heart and whereas some of us might be like, yeah, it's beautiful to go to Mass, I should go more often, he actually made the resolution the day after his first communion to put a life plan into practice and he brought his parents, who were very much cultural Catholics, back to the church and he brought them to Mass every day and to Eucharistic adoration. He had such a great love of the poor and others, everyone he met. He said it was God's providence that he met that person and he would actually pray for them. So his reach is just tremendous.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so what you mentioned there? So he didn't come from this super holy look, I'm going to be careful with my words here right, and what does that mean Really? A super holy family, but I mean a family that put their faith first. That's not who he came from, so he had this innate, you know, I believe, you know, in these again, making this crossover to the young people we're meeting today. They may not have experienced it in quite the way you just mentioned with Carlo, but they're certainly sensing that, and so this is the beauty of it.
Speaker 1:You know, I was speaking to a group this week and I said, you know, I brought out the Catechism, mary Beth, and I said, you know, here's the Catechism, this big book about everything Catholic. And I said, do you know how it starts? Section one, chapter one, paragraph one, starts with desire. It starts with desire, so the Catholic Church knows these desires. And then it has that beautiful quote from St Augustine you know, our hearts are restless, lord, until they rest in you. And this is what he describes. And I remember just reading, a couple nights ago, as I was, you know, getting ready to fall asleep, and I couldn't stop reading him.
Speaker 1:One of the things. You know, he talked about the parable that Jesus gave of the seed, the wheat that has to die, and then he went on to explain and really talked about humility, and I love the way. Do you remember that? Do you remember how he spoke? He loved humility and you know, and I remember he said and of course I knew this, but I forgot, I guess that it comes from the earth. You know humus, the earth, and I was thinking, you know that's who we are today without God. You know it's like a body and a soul, but we're stuck in the earth, right In this material consumerism. You know, and when I speak to young people, especially Mary Beth, I say you know your body and a soul, the default position without grace is sin and death. Just look. And they know that, they sense that right. And so he says humility. I died to open myself up, right, and this is where he brings in prayer and the Eucharist so beautifully. Can you touch on some of those things?
Speaker 2:I think so, and that's one of the other things that impressed me so much about this book is, in addition to his parents' words, it contains actual excerpts from his journals.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think so many of us maybe have been blessed to see short quotes from him but, as you're describing just such depth in what he wrote and I felt like I could take any of the passages he wrote to Eucharistic Adoration and just spend days and days with it because they're so power-packed.
Speaker 2:But I think also to your point. Carlo was so humble in the sense that he came from a very privileged background so it would have been easy for him to sit around all day and played video games, and he did like to play video games, but he disciplined himself to only play for one hour a week. And then also, I think what is really significant is that he would take food off his own plate and bring it to the poor. He would save up his allowance and he would buy sleeping bags for those in need and he would talk to them and he would take interest in them. So some people that Carlo didn't really know that well after he passed would say that he really touched them and he really influenced him, just because of his smile and just because he was bringing the presence of Christ to them. So I think in some ways that really shows his great humility too, because he wanted to remember who he was as a child of God and to share that with other people as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know John Paul who spoke, who loved young people. Right, I could imagine, john Paul, you know, if, you know, I don't know if he ever got it, he probably wouldn't have got a chance right to meet Carlo, but if, but, he is now, but he would say young people, you know that your life has meaning to the extent that it's given away as a gift to others. And John Paul was sure that if young people would try this, what you're describing, you know, giving yourself away, that you will find yourself in giving yourself away. But first we cannot give what we don't have. So, carlo, he knew this and he would go into prayer.
Speaker 1:This is so important right to be filled first and to be filled with prayer. You know, in prayer, and especially with the Eucharist, huh, what is the Eucharist? So I know that, being a consecrated virgin and we're going to well, maybe I'll get to a question or two of that later on here Very interested in that and I know a couple of just wonderful, beautiful young women in my own life, previous to our conversation together here, that are consecrated virgins, and so they know the Eucharist in a very beautiful, powerful way, and this is where we get filled, isn't it so that we have something to give away and we complete? It's not brain surgery, right, it's the two great commandments, right. Be filled with divine life and love, love God, and then pour this out to others, and while we do that, we actually find ourselves. It's the opposite of self-love, as Carlo would describe so well in the book.
Speaker 2:Definitely, and I think that's why, even before he received his first Holy Communion, when his nanny would bring him to church, he would actually be very saddened when he couldn't receive Holy Communion. So he had that great desire, and then he also wanted to spend time before or after mass in eucharistic adoration each day from the time he was small, um, and then I think that really one of the great legacies he left us is because he had this great genius when it came to technology. He wanted to use his talents for god's glory and so for that reason he developed the Eucharistic Miracles of the World exhibit that has gone everywhere and it's absolutely incredible. When you see it, all you can say is my Lord and my God. When you see miracles from 120, miracles from 22 countries, century after century, you can really see God's real, present love for us.
Speaker 1:If we wanted to take a look at that work. Is it now my understanding? Is it in a book form, mary Beth? Is that in a book form? How would our listeners take a look at that work? Because I don't think he put his name on that work right. Can you explain that a little bit, how we would find that?
Speaker 2:Sure, so technically, I don't know that he put his name on it, but you can actually go to carloacutiscom and it's available in multiple languages. So if you click on the English flag, for instance, then you can view everything in English or you can obtain a copy of the book. It's put out by the Real Presence Association, so if you go on to Amazon or to other sites, you can find it. You can type in the Eucharistic Miracles of the World, and it's very beautifully done.
Speaker 1:Okay, but we can go right to his website, which I think is probably a good place to start right, because we get to know him even a little bit better. You know, he would say, through creation, and you know that God reveals himself right through the beauty of creation. You know, small b beauty of creation and the beauty of mountains and stars, you know they're always bringing us to big B beauty, right, but the crown of that, of course, is a man and a woman, our people, and that's where you find yourself, you know, when you interact. He quoted in one of the chapters, st James faith without works is dead.
Speaker 1:I come back to this body, soul, our bodies and our soul. Now we're filled with grace through prayer and the Eucharist. Now we have the potential for human flourishing, we have the potential for human freedom, but now we have to go out and make it efficacious, and we do that by loving others, right, and so it's in this act of love of moving out. You know, and he really got that, didn't he? You know, as far as evangelizing his friends, wonderful, non-preachy type way, giving them advice, I remember one girl who became intimate, or was becoming intimate with some boy that she just met, and he was pretty direct, wasn't he? Yes, no, no, no, that's not what your body was made for, right?
Speaker 2:Definitely.
Speaker 2:I think also the title of the book God's Influencer is impactful because we think of how many celebrities want to influence us in different ways that are very much not to do with God, but Carlo really wanted to use all of the talents and basically everything God gave him in order to help influence others, to evangelize others, as you mentioned, and so I think that, whether it was standing up for someone who was bullied, or whether it was standing up for someone who was bullied, or whether it was befriending someone who might have disabilities and be forgotten, carlo really wanted to make those connections with other people and, through, like St John Paul II, have those person-to-person contacts that would bring people closer to our Lord.
Speaker 1:Yeah, isn't it interesting. This is so interesting. I love this about the book and what you just said. So, in this world of AI and technology, and he liked technology to your point and he used it very effectively and beautifully, but to that point it's something about this personal relationship that you can't get away from that. In fact, ai has got to the point already in its early life that we don't know if it's true or not anymore.
Speaker 1:You can turn my body, my face, right here and put words in my mouth that I didn't really say. But when you give a live presentation, when you speak live to somebody, you can't lie, you know. I mean you know, and it can't be distorted and twisted. I see you speaking and I'm there with you and as a friend, something happens really beautifully in that and I think he really understood that. And that's something I had to learn. Again, even in my relationship with my wife, I started looking at that phone Mary Beth too much and even while she was speaking to me the best thing I ever learned and I had to learn the hard way, and it was many years ago now I just started putting that phone down If she's talking to me or a friend is talking to me, I put that phone down, I put it in my pocket and something beautiful happens when you listen to somebody.
Speaker 1:And he understood this. So the point I'm making, he said you know, it's in these ordinary, daily ways that we start to communicate, we get to know each other, and so it's not as hard as you think. We just live in this crazy, noisy world that threw God out, but human beings are always worshiping something. You know, whether it's a new coat or a new pair of shoes, or there's the secular humanism. You know where we're worshiping man himself. You know, and et cetera, et cetera. And he just gets us back, doesn't he? He gets us grounded back, that these are done in the ordinary ways of daily life. Really.
Speaker 2:For sure.
Speaker 2:And I think one thing also about Carlo is that from the time he was little he really wanted to read the scripture, so he would read a passage from scripture every day, but he wouldn't just read it, he would write down what was important to him or he would recall whatever lesson to be learned that day and he would put it into action. And so, for instance, he had a babysitter who was actually from a Hindu background, rajesh, and he shared with him his insights from scripture. He brought him to church with him, he introduced him to things like the rosary, and so, through his prayerful witness and his kindness toward others, rajesh was so moved that he actually became Catholic.
Speaker 1:He did.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Isn't that beautiful, huh? Moving our hearts, you know, into something more right and then shaping the wider culture. If our nation, if our world is going to survive, we're all going to have to become more human, you know. And when I say more human, you know, in the beginning, before all this sin comes into the world, we were united with God, right. This is why Jesus comes back into the story. And when you think about, you know, at Mass and what's happening on the altar, people don't realize. Here's God himself that just wants to pour himself out and unite with us. And this is the supernatural way, is the natural way.
Speaker 1:Human beings are not supposed to be grounded just in the earth. We're supposed to be lifted up. And Carlo just does this great job. And these chapters are written. I mean, a young person is going to love this because they're not long chapters. And Carlo just does this great job, and you know, these chapters are written. I mean, a young person is going to love this because they're not long chapters. Like you said, he's picking out or his parents are picking out some little theme.
Speaker 2:Sometimes they're only a couple of pages long, so they're great to meditate on, aren't they? Definitely, I can see this, like you said, having a wide range, because I think young people will want to encounter him and they'll find in him a friend and an intercessor, but also even grandparents would like to have it to share with their young people in their family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and what you said about him. Part of this program we have with the Sword for Young Men, we have them drop to their knees first thing in the morning before they look at those phones, right, and then to open up their heart with our blessed mother let it be done to me according to your word. And then they open up any temptations to come and say, hey, temptation's not a sin. Jesus was tempted, but I open up my temptation right, and I open it up right away to receive grace. And then I get up and I just love the next person I see Later on in the day, mary Beth, we ask them to read scripture, and you know what the beauty of this is.
Speaker 1:We think about you know reading scripture, we're going to get more information, we're going to learn things. But for these guys that have been exposed to hardcore pornography, which so many of the young men in fact 100% of the young men we meet today have been exposed, and usually by accident, usually because of their innocence, stolen. But when you read scripture, like Carlo was doing, and you write it down, it actually starts to rewire your brain correctly again, and so this is amazing, healing, spiritually, bodily. So this is not just fooling around. This is beautiful stuff, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Definitely, and I think to your point, and all of the things that you just shared about your movement are so beautiful. Because I think sometimes when people are tempted, or when people, when the enemy is trying to confuse them or discourage them or try to get them to give up, then they feel kind of helpless and they feel like they don't have any recourse. Get them to give up, then they feel kind of helpless and they feel like they don't have any recourse. But Carlo gives us some of the most important weapons in terms of devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady, that we take authority of each thought and hold it captive through the power of Scripture and the power of Jesus's precious blood. And then he also asks us to have recourse to things like the sacrament of confession. He actually, even though he wasn't in the state of serious sin, he would go at least once a week, and so that healing love and mercy of God poured in and it just brought him higher and higher and closer and closer to our Lord.
Speaker 1:I just had a conversation again after one of my talks, with a woman and she was talking about her husband a little bit, and we were talking about that, and she's looking for a counselor, a marriage counselor, and et cetera, et cetera. And that's okay, right. I mean, sometimes people need to sit down with another person. But I said and I hope you find one. But I said, don't stop there, because they're still human beings and what you're really seeking and what you need at the end is supernatural grace. We need supernatural grace. You know, marriage is not an easy thing. Being single is not an easy thing. These young people are going through it's not an easy thing.
Speaker 1:Wherever you're, at whatever stage in life you are, confession is so powerful because it's just opening you up and it's taking. You know, this grace is flooding in. We don't experience it Until. In fact, I'll say it this way People who go to confession, like Carlo, did never ask me why do you go to confession? They never ask me. They know People. The only ones that ask me are the people that don't go. Why do I need to go to confession, to a priest or whatever? And I said, dude, if you went, you would answer your own question. It's something powerful, isn't it there?
Speaker 2:Definitely, and I think, as you mentioned, things like counseling and everything are wonderful if you have a good Catholic counselor and so on. However, confession, I think our Lord wants to give us so many healing graces.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think that sometimes people might be hesitant to go to confession because they think it's just like something that they might be afraid of or because they think it's just going along with some sort of a rule. But when people actually go to confession and open their hearts to God's mercy, they see how incredible it is and how much peace it brings them and how much healing in ways that other things don't.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're really healing, just like we said, scripture, reading it meditatively, like you said, using Lectio Divina, which is part of our apostolate here, it's actually healing. I mean it's physically healing you. You know, these images like this crazy toxic and these porn things, they get stuck in people's heads and they almost can't get out of it. There's grace really comes in and begins to rewire and heal those images. And it's not a vending machine, it's not like I put a dollar in and a candy bar comes out. It's going to take a battle. That's why the sword, mary Beth, because John Paul would describe this as the heart, the individual, human heart is the battleground between love and lust, between what Carlo would call self-giving love and grasping right self-love, to the point where you know you love yourself over the love for God. In essence. You know, but these aren't things that are pie in the sky and we can all and here's the point I think Carlo makes so well his parents make, and my experience working with young people in my own life, my personal life, is that once you step into this story, something really beautiful starts to happen. You really become healed and then you start to see the world through a different lens and I think this is what Carlo has given young people as a model. Hey, let's look at this world through a different lens, through the lens of Christ. Let's die to self. And you go, how do I die to myself, right?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, he describes it as humility in other ways. Right, but humility is a good word for that, you know versus pride, the opposite of pride. We hear pride, this and pride month and the summer of pride. And you think here's this human being, this little pin on top of this little planet, on top in this whole universe, and we're going to be prideful. It's almost insanity if you think about it. And he says no, just humble yourself. And what a more relaxing. You know, you want to get rid of some anxiety and find some peace. Just humble yourself and don't think you got to come up with every solution. And he brings that out very clearly and beautifully, you know.
Speaker 2:For sure. I think that one of the hardest things to do in the spiritual life might initially sound like the simplest, which is simply to let God love us, and when we do that, it is like being little and small and humble in the arms of God. I think that sometimes it's easy for us to forget that People sometimes say well, you know, I can't be like Harlow because he must have been born that way, he must have been holy, but he had to go through the spiritual battle like the rest of us. I feel like saints like Carlo or saints like St Therese were able to, by God's grace, achieve that high degree of holiness in such a short time because they were willing to let themselves be loved by God.
Speaker 1:That's so important. In fact, I'll correlate this with something you said earlier on peace. You said you know we find peace, you know, coming out of the confessional, for instance, and other places reading scripture, prayer, and we think of peace in our modern world as just being the absence of conflict. Right, the absence of war. Or Trump is going to go try to help negotiate peace somewhere in the world, and that's a good thing. Right, not to have conflict. But real peace is what you're mentioning here where God can love you, you open up in humility, and not only do you find a lack of conflict in those moments, but you feel the peace of God himself coming into you. That's a much deeper peace, isn't it.
Speaker 2:For sure, so at the heart of it, you can be having essentially a hurricane in your life. For sure, so at the heart of it, you can be having essentially a hurricane in your life. Things can be going turning upside down, but when you have that presence of God in your life and when you have the peace that only he can give, then you can find that tranquility in the midst of a fierce storm.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, and we don't believe that, do we? And it takes a little work, to your point. Yeah, some young people find it sooner and some of us live longer because we're slow learners. I think he lets some of us live long lives just because we don't quite get it yet. You know, and that's not the only reason, of course. You know, god has a plan for all of us, but the same plan at the end, which is to become closer to him, right in union and community with him.
Speaker 1:You know, the Eucharist, I think, is going to take on more and more and more importance as we see this craziness. One thing I'll say right now, mary Beth, that I do enjoy is probably the wrong word, because you hate evil and you don't like sin and I hate the destruction, especially of the innocent, all the way from the womb and and on. But I do like the point that you know, the weeds and the weed are growing up together here. I mean we're, we're. We can see the weeds right now, and I think this is what young people are doing.
Speaker 1:They're seeing such a toxic culture, so many lies, so many distortions, so much sadness, so many broken families and thinking. You know this anxiety, anxiety, this depression, this suicidal thoughts can't be all of it. There has to be something more. I can only watch porn so long and I don't, you know, it's not good for me, right. And so we're waking up to that and I think, like you said, the beauty of the mass. But there's something about that Eucharist, man, if you take that nuptial bath, first that confession, baptism confession, and then you walk in and you receive that, that's a beautiful thing, isn't it.
Speaker 2:For sure. So definitely, I think that Carlo would describe it as heaven on earth. He would describe his encounters with our Eucharistic Lord in that way, both through the reception of communion and spending time in that heart-to-heart contact, as St John Paul II would say which is Eucharistic adoration. So excited and Carlo was like well, you could give the money to the poor instead, if you want, because every time I go before the blessed sacrament.
Speaker 1:I'm with the same Jesus who was in Jerusalem. How beautiful is that, you know. I remember the first time we were doing a high school retreat where I was warned ahead of time that this class of 16-year-old sophomores and this class they said this class doesn't want to be here today. We were doing a four-session retreat and they're just. You know, they're here because they have to be here. Blah, blah, blah. You know. Good luck, in essence, you know, and I said you know what? I'm not worried about it really. I said, you know, at the end of the day, they're human beings, they're kids and they're all looking for something more Right, and? And so they told us they have no attention span, which is true, you know, for a lot of young people today.
Speaker 1:But anyways, partway through the first session, somebody brought up mental illness. They did, and they just said they talked about anxiety and and and they, they're the ones that brought up what I just mentioned. You know how come so many of our friends are talking about suicide? They were asking us. I brought a little team with me and I said you know, let's just stop right here. You know, let's just go down to prayer. You want to feel some peace right now. And they said yes, and I said let's do that. And then I asked them to pray for somebody. If you want to open up a young person's mind or young groups of people, just ask them to start praying. Man, do they go to a different spot. They have a lot of pain in their hearts, right. And then I told them some diving story. I'm a diver. I told them some deep sea diving stories and I said this is what happens. You go, believe the surface of this crazy noise and you go deep and when you go deep it's a whole different world down there. I said let's do it.
Speaker 1:And so, anyways, second session, we end up in the Adoration Chapel and I said let's just do this for 30 seconds at first and let's just try to be quiet, right? I said anybody want to try? For a minute? And then when we got up to about five, six minutes, that was it. It was game over. They knew that they were finding peace there, mary Beth, and it was really something I have that I just remember that class, like this crazy class. They said nobody's going to pay attention, blah, blah, blah, sitting there quietly and nobody wanted to get up. Something happened that day and you know, you just see the power of God working in those hearts.
Speaker 2:That is awesome. That's amazing, and I think that what you're describing isn't atypical, though, because when we give young people those opportunities to have that encounter with the Lord, then it's really a game changer. I gave a confirmation retreat over the weekends and the young ladies that were there, I feel like the most important portion was when we went in the chapel and when we were before the Blessed Sacrament and I brought them, I guided them through a scripture meditation and we took some time in silence and you could really see that God was speaking to their hearts. Based on their reactions, then at the end, they did like a tiny bit of journaling, so you could really see that that is what really touched them the most when they had that encounter with the Lord.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I remember Pope Benedict said it so well. It always stuck in my mind and I'm paraphrasing a little bit, but he said you know, this decision to be a Christian, to be a Catholic, will never be an ethical decision or some lofty philosophical idea. It's always going to be an encounter with an event, and that encounter with that event is a person. And when you encounter that person, you'll have a new horizon, a new way to look at the world and you'll have a decisive direction for your life. And it's true. What we don't realize is we are made for the supernatural life and that Jesus will come down. God will be here, he's here. You know, we think eternity is this. Oh, I just pie in the sky. You know, someday I die. Okay, I get it.
Speaker 1:No no no, no, we're all eternal beings. Eternity is not tomorrow, eternity is forever. You are already in eternity. We're just in a temporal space. But if you open your heart, I just I know this, mary Beth, and I'm sure you do too, and so did Carlo that you can expect an encounter. I mean, I don't know how it's going to happen to you. God woos us in all different ways. He's a lover that's going to woo you different than he woos me, and et cetera, et cetera, but he will come. He will come.
Speaker 2:I think that in God's Influencer, Carlo also describes how if people just knew, if they just knew the truth that Jesus is here in the Eucharist, then our churches would be full and I also think it's really beautiful his devotion to Our Lady.
Speaker 2:So also he was attracted to Our Lady when he was little, and so he consecrated himself to Our Lady when he was a small boy and as he grew older he would pray the rosary, whether it was on the school bus or walking down the street, or at home or in church. So he really cultivated that relationship with her as well.
Speaker 1:Mary, tell our audience, especially for new people, new young people say joining us, what does that mean? To consecrate myself, to say to our Blessed Mother, and I've done the same thing, but I probably talked about it without really trying to explain to them what does that mean?
Speaker 2:I think the simplest way to explain it is, as St John Paul II did, just to say totus tuus, totally yours. So you kind of put your life in Our Lady's hands and say so. You kind of put your life in Our Lady's hands and say Our Lady, I know that you are the mother of Jesus and he in a sense entrusted himself to you. He honored you as his mother. So I want to do the same thing and I trust that you are going to intercede for me before God and that you're going to help direct my life for his greater glory and for the salvation of my soul and for other people around me too. And when you make that consecration, your life will change in such amazing ways and you'll go. You'll be part of a great adventure that you never could have dreamed of.
Speaker 1:It's true, isn't it? When I came back into the church, I was gone for 20 years this is going back some years now, many years now, but I was sitting in a chapel one time and I kept thinking I want this so bad, I'm so thirsty for Jesus, but he's not coming into my heart somehow. And I sat there and one day, just spontaneously, I started to pray to our Blessed Mother, and I remember so well the prayer was, you know our Blessed Mother, just open my heart just a crack for your son. I know there's some barrier I'm putting up that's keeping him out right, and sure enough I'm not going to go through that story now. It's part of my legacy. For sure, though, and sure enough, to your point, she opened up a crack in my heart, and I started to know right away what it was that was lacking, what it was missing. She started to show me the way, and she didn't just open a crack, she opened a floodgate, and of course, that's when the battle really starts, you know, because I had a lot of battling to do, but that was quite an adventure, and I was happy to fight that Not happy to fight the battle, I guess, but I understood that I had to go through that battle and I was happy because it gave me hope that there was something on the other side of that, and sure enough it was. But you're right, it was quite an adventure. Craziness, right?
Speaker 1:When, again, you know, I mentioned in your bio that you're a consecrated virgin. Tell us a little bit about that Again. You know we have some new viewers. We have some people that have been on for a long time, with us, for years, but we have some new viewers coming in. Some of them are younger and they say OK, in this world, mary Beth, where sex is, you know, sex is now love, love is now sex, right, love has been reduced to a feeling and then further reduced to sex. If you're not having sex, you can't find love, and that's not true, is it?
Speaker 2:I think that your statement is absolutely true, because I think that for me, the greatest love I could find is in the Eucharist, in our Eucharistic Lord, and once I encountered him and realized that Jesus died not only on the cross for love of me, but that remains hidden for me, hidden under the appearance of bread, then I wanted to give my life totally to him too, and that actually happened. At the first World Youth Day I ever attended under John Paul II's pontificate, I was sitting there in Eucharistic adoration for what I remember being the first holy hour.
Speaker 1:I ever made. Give us a year, give us a year, that was 1993.
Speaker 2:So that was in Denver.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you were in Denver in 1993. Oh my gosh, so you were young and you were like Carlo. You decided fairly early there, mary Beth. So, yeah, go into that a little bit more. I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I want to put some context on that.
Speaker 2:Sure Well, for me it was a bit of a long-awaited Tipperary, as the Irish like to say. So I felt that longing in my heart but then it was kind of like a tug for a while.
Speaker 2:I was very blessed to go to Four World Youth Days with John Paul II and those definitely helped continue to attract me to the Lord and then over time, at first I wasn't familiar with the vocation of consecrated virginity, so I wrote to different religious communities and visited some and there was a tremendous witness and sometimes I would feel maybe drawn to a particular charism, but I still felt like God was asking me to do something kind of different. And then life gets in the way. I had to finish, of course, my education first, and sometimes I helped with different family members who were sick or did other things in the apostolic life. But then there is still that continual tug. And then, ultimately, one of my friends who was in the seminary gave me a book on different types of consecrated life and I discovered consecrated virginity. It really resonated with me. So the hound of heaven was at my heels until I finally said yes, and I'm very glad that I did, because it really is the greatest love that I think that you can experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and people in this crazy sex-filled pornographic culture don't believe that that's possible, don't believe that living a chaste life is possible, whether you're married or not, and they give in and they become slaves to this. You know, slaves to temptation. They make their lives miserable. You know, I look at some of the older people of my generation baby boomers and I see them as they're getting older and who's really visible are the famous singers and the actors and stuff. But there's plenty of people I know that are not that famous, right, but the same thing happens. You see them protesting today, these older people protesting against Elon Musk or whatever, and you just go.
Speaker 1:You've been sitting in that proverbial pot for so long. You forgot who you are. You're almost a caricature of yourself and we're called to so much more and I think they just gave over to the lusts of life and they tried to fill themselves in so many ways. I don't know if they know who they are anymore, mary Beth, but when you give your life like you said, they are anymore, mary Beth, but when you give your life like you said, you are filled. Already, you begin to be filled with the infinite desire. You know we forget these desires of our heart are infinite desires and you'll never infinitely fill them in this finite world anyway. We're here to be loved to other people and get on that journey.
Speaker 1:But if you're trying to fill the infinite desires of your heart in the finite world, I don't care if you're married, not married, I don't care how many pornographic movies you watch. You're going to be miserable in the long run and you become these old people my age and older, and you're just. You're still lost, you're still grasping, you're getting depressed now. Now I'm starting to drink too much and you're talking about freedom and people don't realize Mary Beth can be filled. You can be filled and that's a powerful thing, right? When you say come on in, you know, to the bridegroom of all bridegrooms, right, and you're the bride, and so are we all in the church actually, aren't we?
Speaker 2:Definitely so. The late Francis, cardinal George, said that consecrated virginity shows us the love of the church for Christ. So we're all called, as Carlo Acutis explains and I love in this book God's Influencer, how he has basically seven ways that you can become a saint that he would teach to children. So he makes it very practical. But I love how he explains how we're all called to be saints, we're all called to be holy, and how when we open our hearts to God's love, it really is possible. So I think all of us have sadly seen the effects that sin whether it's sexual sin or things like that can have in people's marriages urged in the world in general. But when you see married couples that are living their vocation, it's so inspiring and it's so beautiful. So whatever vocation God is calling us to, when we're open to his love and letting it work in our lives and to living pure lives, then it just, it can be transformative and it brings so much peace and healing and mercy to the world.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's beautiful. We're starting to wind down now and I'll just remind people. I'll put this in the show notes. I'll also put a link to you in the show. You are involved with any specific order or anything. Mary Beth, yourself right now with the consecrated virginity, Are you associated with anybody? And if people wanted to know more about that, or more about you and some of the things that you're doing, where can they learn some more?
Speaker 2:Sure. So I'm a consecrated virgin living in the world, which means I'm part of the Ordo of Virgins, Ordo Virginum. So they could go to consecratedvirginsorg to find more information on that, or they're welcome to. If they are interested in other ministries that are available, they could contact me at mbraceyatsofiainstitutecom.
Speaker 1:I help to mbraceyatsofiainstitutecom. Okay, and we'll make sure we get these in the show notes, but, okay, good. Okay, and we'll make sure we get these in the show notes, but, okay, good. So what are you doing with Sophia on a regular? Are you working with them on a regular basis.
Speaker 2:Yes, so I work full-time for Sophia Press as a copywriter sometimes as a spokesperson and then also I help with a friendship group ministry that we started in conjunction with the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, which is beautiful because we read spiritual books and one of the priests comes and talks with us and then we break it open. So it's really a very powerful experience.
Speaker 1:Now you probably this is going to be a tough one for you as we wind down here, but what's of the books that you were involved in? I see you co-authored a book about the Eucharist, so let's eliminate that one for now, but you wrote a couple other books, right? So what's your favorite one? If we're going to highlight for our audience today what's Mary Beth Bracey's favorite book that she authored, and then tell us just a little bit about the one that you co-authored too, we'll make sure we get those in the show notes.
Speaker 2:Sure, well, I guess that the last one I did was the little way to healing love through the passion of Jesus, the station to the cross with St Therese of Lesjus, and she's my confirmation saint, so I think that that was probably-.
Speaker 1:I have a holy crush on her, by the way, and she knows and it's a holy crush and she knows she's a good friend of mine and I love her. So thank you, yes.
Speaker 2:But, I'm sorry, go finish that statement. So I think it was wonderful because it was very cathartic. So I just kind of thought about all these questions that people might ask maybe some of the questions you posed of somebody searching for God and I thought to myself, how can I find the answers to this? Through scripture, through bringing it to the Lord in conversation and through the writings of St Therese? So I kind of tied all those things in together into a book and I think by God's grace, people have found it to be very healing.
Speaker 1:It's a long title. Say the whole title again for us.
Speaker 2:The Little Way to Healing Love. The Stations of the Cross with St Therese of L'Eau.
Speaker 1:Oh good, I'd give you a test there and see what your memory is like. Well, thank you, we'll get this. And then, just briefly, you co-authored a book, stories of the Eucharist, which I mean, I had such a profound encounter in the Eucharist which I've told many, many times, that story that actually brought me into the church after one of my brothers died, and actually brought me into the church, but I can't stop talking about it. So what did you do with the book there? The Stories of the Eucharist, are you like personal stories, or what does that mean, mary Beth?
Speaker 2:Sure. So actually my mother and I wrote that book and it's great for anyone First Communion on up. So it has different stories of the Eucharist and the lives of the saints. So, for instance, it might talk about St John Paul II and it talks about his Eucharistic devotion, a little bit about his life, and there are pictures that can be colored in there too. So there's sometimes actual words from the saints and there's a few prayers and things in there too.
Speaker 1:So that's written for what age is then? So if I'm a parent, this is very important to us because we have a lot of parents that are trying to get away from the crazy books that these kids are forced to read in these public school systems. So is that something I should buy for a child of mine? Like, what ages are you looking at?
Speaker 2:Sure, I would say probably First Communion age on up, that's beautiful. And when you say on up, meaning to about just ballpark, I mean, I think, any age honestly, because I think that, because it has information about the saints and their lives.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're going to push that on people a little bit because that's exactly what we're looking for as we're starting. You know, we're building up the domestic church here, mary Beth, and we need stuff like that to read and things that parents can share with their kids. We try to do this thing called Tuesday night at the Smith home, where there's no phones, no TVs, and just to relate some story, and often it's the gospel, that's for the upcoming mass, but sometimes we like to throw a little ringer in there and bring some other stories. Parents are looking for other things. So thank you so much for that. We'll get that in there too.
Speaker 1:And the last thing with John Paul. I just look at it, this is going a few minutes over, I'm sorry, but John Paul, I remember, you know story after story. He would be brought someplace and his handlers would say John Paul, you got to rush, we got to get to the meeting, and they would close the chapel doors to adoration in these various places and he would walk by and he would sense that the Eucharist was exposed in there and he would turn to his handler and smile and walk in that door and you couldn't get him out of there on time. He'd be a little late, you know, but this is the power of the presence when you're really attuned to it, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Amen yes.
Speaker 1:Amen. Amen is right. Hey, mary Beth, you're a joy. Thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time to come on the show. We really appreciate you and I really love this book. It's just wonderful, god's Influencer. We'll get it in the show notes. I get a picture up here when I edit the podcast and we'll make sure we'll get a copy out to you and hopefully we can spread this around a little bit.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. Thank you so much, and thank you for all that you do. I'm very grateful.