“Heavenly Father’s Amazing Grace and Earthly Father’s Vocation of Fatherhood” (Text version if you cannot listen to the audio version): In the second reading (Gal 2:16, 19-21), we heard the word “justified”, “justification”. To be justified - basically means – to be put right with God, to be made acceptable before God. It means to be changed from being in the state of sin into being in state of grace – therefore being made pleasing to God. Protestants and other Non-Catholics think – actually – even among Catholics – they think - that - we, Catholics - believe and teach - that we can work or earn our way to heaven by doing enough good works or rituals or by saying the right amount and formula of prayers. That is just not true. What we believe and what we teach is that the only real “justification” (being put right with God) is not earned but freely given by God. In the words of St. Paul – “Justification by grace through faith in the Son of God”… meaning -having a personal relationship with Christ… - Surrendering ourselves to the God who has given Himself to us. - Surrendering our hearts and not just external observance of the law. From the second reading, “If justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing” … meaning, if we can save ourselves by works, just by following the law, then - what Jesus did and even his death were not necessary. The truth is – we cannot save ourselves. We need a savior… That is Christ. So - we need to let Christ into our lives by acknowledging and accepting God’s forgiveness. Growing up – most of us heard our parents. “If you will do the things I have asked you to do, then you may go outside and play, and you might get a treat or reward. Otherwise - if you don’t do what you were told to do, you stay in your room and get nothing.” We grew up with that kind of rewards-and-punishment system in relation to our parents, our teachers, our employers, and society in general… and so for many people – naturally – they relate to God in the same way. If you are good, God will be good to you and bless you. If not, God will punish you…. the same rewards-and-punishment system that most of us learned about early in life. But you see – the truth is – “Justification by Grace” means God loving us even when we are unlovable…God forgiving what is unpardonable… Christ died for us even while we were still sinners… Meaning – nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is truly the most amazing thing in the world. “Amazing grace - - how sweet the sound - - / That saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found, / Was blind, but now I see.” - as the song goes. God loves you and me unconditionally, and He longs for you and me to believe it and accept it… that is faith… our response to His grace. But – This does not mean that moral behavior and good deeds do not matter anymore. Yes - we are freely forgiven and justified by faith and grace, but we must persevere in good works, in prayer if we are to remain in the state of grace and attain final salvation… Good works, fervent prayers help us to grow in our relationship with God – they help us to stay in the state of grace. St. Augustine said: God created us without our cooperation, but God will not save us without our cooperation. With that said, since today is Father’s day, I will now focus on vocation or call to fatherhood – of earthly fathers. First of all, we want to commend all fathers who sacrifice so much for their family – for their children – for loving them so well with the love of Christ….. We commend fathers who have sacrificed their desires, so that their children could go to school or to college – there are those who even work at least 2 jobs just to give their family the very best things, so that their kids can be the very best they can be. Fatherhood is a call or vocation from God – Yes - it is also a vocation to be a father. Sad to say – fatherhood has been under constant attack in our society – as many other Christian values are under constant attack. In spite of all the changes in society, the father remains a very essential figure in the ideal Christian family. Christian fathers are necessary for a stable, healthy family. This is not a condemnation of single motherhood because we know - for a fact - that many women were forced into single motherhood by circumstances beyond their control. But we need to continue to remind ourselves that the ideal Christian family remains that of father, mother and child or children. Kids need fathers just as they need mothers. Kids need their fathers as role models as much as they need their mothers. A father’s love is different than a mother’s love, and the child needs both. Either because of absence of fathers – which maybe because of no fault of their own; or fathers not being faithful to their duties - the crisis of fatherhood contributes to the crisis of faith in our society today… that is real. Even though God is neither male nor female, the Bible usually presents God to us in the image of father just as Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to call God “Our Father.” The experience we have of our earthly fathers really affects how we relate to our heavenly father. Again, the crisis of faith in many young people today could be related to early life experiences of not having a good and loving father figure. Children see their parents, in general, their fathers, specifically, as what God is supposed to be like. Children can more easily relate to a loving heavenly Father if they experience the love of an earthly father. To children and wives – let me say this - your father or husband is not perfect – human as he is. He may have done or said something that may have hurt you; or he may have failed to do or he may have failed to say something that might have disappointed you – falling short of your expectations every now and then… But please give him the benefit of the doubt that – maybe - he just did not know any better – as we, ALL, at times do not know any better… Or maybe – You just do not understand his situation. So, please continue to trust that your husband or father only wants the best for your family and so, if necessary, when necessary – correct him, out of love, with love and not with anger and condemnation. Today is a good day to work on reconciling relationships – family relationships - that might have been hurt or strained. Otherwise, we should ask ourselves – what is the point of all our liturgical and Eucharistic celebrations….Easter, Pentecost, Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi? What is the point of celebrating the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and praying “Make our hearts like unto Thine” – if we are not willing to be reconciled? Let us pray – especially - for all fathers today that they may be more faithful to their duties in the family. Let us pray to God to give fathers the moral strength and the grace they need to become good role models whom their children can always look up to….Just as we look up to Our Father in Heaven.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:49:39 +0000