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July 24 | The Authentic Life (Pt. 1)
A.D. 1828–1898
Only one thing is necessary for Catholicism to flourish—authentic lives. Throughout history, wherever you find men and women genuinely striving to live the Christian life, the Church has always blossomed. If we wish to speak effectively to the modern world about God, the Christian life, and Catholicism, we must be thriving, blossoming, and flourishing in that life.
The best way to speak about God is to thrive in the life he calls us to live.
Saint Charbel thrived in the utterly unique life God called him to live. He lived it authentically, and has inspired generations of Catholics to do the same ever since.
Charbel was a Maronite Catholic monk and priest. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church based in Lebanon, where Charbel was born and raised. Charbel lived in a monastery for 16 years, but eventually he felt God call him to become a hermit. Charbel followed, and God led him to a small stone house where he could say Mass.
For 23 years, he lived as a hermit, devoting himself entirely to prayer, contemplation, and manual labor. Saint Charbel lived an authentic life, and miracles attributed to him continue to the current time, showing just how powerful an effect living authentically has on the world.
God calls each of us to live an authentic life.
He doesn't call you to live an authentic life in order to stifle or control you. He invites you to live an authentic life so that, from an infinite number of possibilities, you can become the-best-version-of-yourself. In a very beautiful way God wants you to be yourself. But not the self your ego wants you to be, and not the self the world wants you to be. Rather, the self God had in mind when he created you. By calling you to live an authentic life, God is saying, "Be all I create you to be."
The authentic life begins with the simple desire to be who God created us to be and cooperate with God by playing the part he has designed for us in human history. The adventure of salvation begins when we stop asking, "What's in it for me?" and turn humbly to God in our hearts and ask, How may I serve? What work do you wish for me to do with my life? What is your will for my life?
Begin living authentically today, and embrace the adventure. You never know where God is going to take you.
GOD, HOW MAY I SERVE? WHAT IS YOUR WILL FOR MY LIFE?
I will live an authentic life.
This reflection is brought to you from book title.
Feast Day: July 24
Feast Day Shared By: Saint Christine
Patron Saint of: Suffering
Also Known As: Saint Sharbel Makhlūf
Symbols: A Prayer Rope
Canonized: October 9, 1977
Canonized By: Pope Paul VI