The Divine coincidence

Everyday life presents all kinds of challenges. We are tested all day long. We make choices, good and bad. I made the choice that I would like to be present at the canonization of Carlo Acutis. But, as things stand now, it is quite a big challenge. That is why making a pilgrimage to the Eternal City with a different mindset has become such a great blessing.

The last time I was in Rome, I went to the wrong canonization. I found it boring and felt it was entirely my fault. This time, I didn't want to travel alone, so the four of us set off together. At Easter, I was really looking forward to it. It was finally going to happen. But on Easter Monday, Pope Francis died, and it soon became clear that the canonization of my beloved Carlo Acutis would not take place. Now my faith is being tested. For the second time, Jesus is asking me, “How much do you love me, Marco?” And the journey has yet to begin. Will this really be a dramatic trip?

The trip to Rome went according to plan. I had brought almost nothing with me, and my backpack contained little more than my breviary. Because, well, it's a pilgrimage, so there has to be prayer. And I certainly got my share of it. While in Rome, we not only managed to score the necessary indulgences—it is a Holy Year, after all—but also received many blessings. If you think four young men just go on a pub crawl, you're wrong. It was a real church tour. We went from church to church. And among the “old junk,” we prayed a lot.

We didn't really have a plan of where we wanted to go. We were guided by the Holy Spirit. We wanted to meet a cardinal, but we only encountered bishops, and we couldn't find our bishop, who was also supposed to be in Rome. We followed priests around and miraculously ended up at the tomb of Pope Francis after receiving our first indulgence. This went on for several days. I could write several pages about what happened over the past few days. What is funny to tell is that no matter how hard we looked for our bishop, we couldn't find him. But he was able to find us. And we had a wonderful time together.

What I found very special was the return trip. After seeing all the old “boulders” and gold-plated “old junk,” we had to go home. Something very strange happened at the airport. We were standing in line around lunchtime for two caprese sandwiches (mozzarella with tomato and basil) and two cornettos (filled croissants). It was quite busy and the woman who was packing the sandwiches had only put one cornetto and two capreses in a bag. I said I had bought two cornettos. She looked at the receipt and said, “No, only one.” I looked at the receipt, which was very unclear, and thought, “Oh well, never mind. We'll just share the capreses because they're bigger.” I squeezed out of the line and we sat down. We said grace and then I wanted to hand out the food. When I opened the bag with the cornettos, there were two in it. I think my mouth must have been wide open for a moment. I was so surprised that this was actually possible. I hadn't heard the bag crack while we were saying grace. I looked closely at the receipt and sure enough, it said two cornettos. Now you could say it was a coincidence, but this must have been God's doing. If it wasn't God, then the woman at the sandwich shop is so senile that she can't remember for 20 seconds that I ordered two cornettos and only puts one in the bag. Even after repeated insistence and her studying the receipt. Another explanation I can give is that she didn't understand that “uno,” “one,” and simultaneously raising her right index finger was wrong and that she meant “two.” So, since it's a pilgrimage and we had already received so much grace, we just assumed it came from God.

So the trip was anything but a disappointment and was even better than last time. How would it be the third time if Jesus asked me again, “How much do you love me? How much do you want to attend the canonization of your great example?” I think I would say, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I really want to attend the canonization of the cyber apostle.” And I suspect that Jesus would answer: “Marco, don't go to Panama, but to Rome.”