Homily: July 24, 2026, Friday of the Sixteenth Weeek in Ordinary Time (Our purpose-Saints)

 In today's Gospel, Jesus says, "But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

Every human life is created by God with great love, and He has given each of us a purpose to accomplish in this life. The fruits we produce through our lives are not accidental; they are part of God's loving plan for us. We fulfill our purpose when we are aligned to God's will. His plan for us may not seem significant in the eyes of the world, but every life is precious for God. Since each of us is unique, the purpose God has entrusted to each of us is also unique.

The saints are those who listened to God, lived according to His will, and bore beautiful fruits through their faithfulness. Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a wonderful saint who is still relatively unknown in the West—St. Charbel Makhlouf.

St. Charbel lived in nineteenth-century Lebanon during a difficult time under the Ottoman rule. He was a priest and a monk of the Maronite Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. Despite the hardships Christians faced in Lebanon, he courageously entered the monastery at the age of twenty-three in 1851 and was ordained a priest in 1859.

For twenty-three years, he lived an extraordinary life of deep prayer, profound silence, manual labor, and humble simplicity. He slept only about five hours each night and ate just one simple meal a day.

During his lifetime, God worked many miracles and healings through him. Even after his death, more than 33,000 favors and miracles brought about through his intercession have been reported, with countless others that were never recorded officially. Yet, what made St. Charbel a saint was not the miracles worked through him but his complete willingness and openness to be the fertile, rich soil for God's word.

He listened to God, embraced His word, and obeyed it faithfully. The miracles were simply the fruits of his total surrender to God, giving his life unreservedly to God.

Few of us are called to live as hermits or monks like St. Charbel. But we are all called to be rich soil for the seeds of God’s word to grow to full potential. God asks us to listen to Him, to seek His will, and to bear the fruit He desires from our faith, whether as priests, married couple, single lay or religious. All are called to be His faithful people.

Let us ask ourselves today: Am I allowing God's word to take root in my heart? Am I open to His plan for my life? Do I want to bear the fruit He desires from me?

Through the intercession of St. Charbel, may God give us hearts so rich that every seed of His word will be planted deep, grow strong and bear fruit abundantly for His glory.