HAINES CITY | On a recent pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi, Father Alfonso Cely found himself standing before the tomb of now St. Carlo Acutis.

It was late August and Father Cely, pastor of St. Ann Parish in Haines City, felt the Lord placing an intention on his heart. So, he asked St. Acutis to help him bring three youth from his parish to Rome for the saint’s canonization Sept. 7.

Upon returning home he gathered staff together to discuss the possibility. Thinking the canonization was not until October, he was surprised to learn if they were to send three teens, they would have to act quickly because by then, they only had one week to plan. But who could accompany them?

In walked Elsa Lara, a parishioner and president of the charismatic group. She wanted to let staff know she was stepping down and looking for what the Lord had in store for her next.

“We need somebody to go to Italy with some of the youth,” Father Cely told her. She responded, “Well, I’ll go. This is the sign I was waiting for.”

The trip was offered to youth members. The first three students who had a passport, were able to miss school, and confirmed they could go were 17-year-old Isabel G., and 16-year-olds Miguel L., and Jayden V.

While Isabel wanted to go to Italy, she told staffers to put her on the bottom of the list. If there was a slot still open by the time her name was reached, she would go. She said she felt unworthy and was sure there were others more deserving. But the Lord was calling.

“It was crazy physically being here (in Rome) and seeing Carlo Acutis becoming a saint. Then going to see him in his tomb in Assisi. It was a feeling I had never felt before. It was every emotion bubbling inside. I knew there was a purpose why I was here,” she said.

When she went before the tomb in Assisi, she asked St. Acutis to help her see what she could do in the Church and how to build her faith. She is a leader of mission in St. Ann’s youth ministry, and said St. Acutis inspired her. She learned there were times he would feed the homeless on his way to school.

“I think that ties in beautifully with our mission of bringing more missionaries into the youth group and allowing the youth to fully grow in their faith and showcase the faith they have with everybody around them (through outreach projects),” she said.

She recounted several instances where God was clearly present on their trip. After making plans to get up early and go to Assisi, the group overslept and missed the first train. They would also miss the next train. Ready to give up and try again the next day, they met a bishop and a priest who helped them to the correct station to catch their train.

On the way to Assisi, they met Keith, another pilgrim. He shared the Sept. 1 entry of his journal with them. “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer. I trust in the journey and remain patient, hold on to my ticket, and trust the engineer with my life,” Keith wrote.

“To hear that and realize we didn’t give up. We still had the ticket. There was so much holding us back from going to Assisi. But we stayed patient and trusted in God, and we got there,” Isabel said. “It was God telling us to be patient.” Studying Italian church architecture in school last year, and how paintings and sculpture honor God awakened a desire in Miguel to go to Italy. When his mother told him he was invited to go to the canonization he inquired, “Are you sure they meant me?” “I was super happy. It felt like a dream,” he recalled.

“It was a beautiful experience to see all the people together in St. Peter’s Square to see two people be canonized as saints that they don’t even know. Maybe they had been studying them. People were singing and dancing, everybody coming together as one,” said Miguel. The leader of formation in youth ministry focuses on what to teach the youth. “I want to teach the youth missionary work. That was the identity Father Alfonso chose for our ministry,” said Miguel. “I want to bring these opportunities to them in their own city, so they can take all their sacrifices and put them into our community to bring people together – to bring that community that was at the canonization to our own church.”

He added, “In Rome, God took us to many places we had no clue about going.” He shared how a bus tour took them to the Holy Stairs, which tradition holds as the 28 marble steps Jesus Christ climbed on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. “We went up on our knees. My leg was cramping, making it difficult for me, but I kept on pushing through it. I kept on praying and going up. It was a beautiful moment going up those stairs,” said Miguel.

Jayden is certain it was God’s hand that made the trip possible for him and that God desired he go. Discerning his vocation, he said, “I got more preparation than anything, to become something better in the Church.”

“I am not yet a leader. I am a youth chosen by God to go to Italy,” he said. “Being in Italy has really helped me better understand the Catholic faith. I had general knowledge of Christianity, but not of why Catholics do what they do. Coming here has really expanded my knowledge and understanding. I want to hopefully bring more knowledge to the youth. I want to be able to speak the Word of God to the youth and help them understand things that will help them in their future.”

Father Cely credits the fulfillment of this trip to St. Acutis. “This was a miracle for me,” he said. “I think it’s important to give this generation a chance to see beyond our borders. Sometimes we do things here and we think it is ordinary, but it’s extraordinary. Or we think nothing is happening in the world. Then you go to St. Peter’s Square and see all the youth with such fervor, speaking all those languages, sharing the same faith. It shows you God is still walking with the Church,” he said.

“These youth will bring the joy of having participated in the canonization of the first millennial saint — somebody of their same age, with their same motivation in life, that has the same desire to do things in the world and invite God into their lives.”

He recalled sending two girls to World Youth Day in Fatima, Portugal a few years ago. They returned with vibrant faith that spread to the parish.

“To see the fervor of these young boys and girls is a beautiful message to the people of the church in Haines City. To see the future of the Church is something great and beautiful and happening here in our midst,” said Father Cely. “The Church belongs to God and God will be here with us until the end. It’s the beauty of the Church, to accomplish the mission Jesus gave to His disciples and is still giving His disciples — to bring the Good News of salvation to the world.”

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, September 11, 2025