Happy Father’s Day to all fathers! Today, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is remarkably dedicated to all fathers because you are all remarkable. God created you for an incredible vocation and mission. You exist not only to provide, but also to inspire and lead your family into the direction where God is encountered, experienced, and given topmost priority. I know the tremendous challenges of being a father, but your overflowing love for your own family always motivates you to give your best for them. Your dedication, graciousness, and untiring sacrifices are now, once again, being highly recognized and honored. Your special role to safeguard and support society, the Church, and especially your own family will always be your amazing legacy. You live to make others’ life more meaningful and fruitful.
This year makes your fatherhood a bit more special because we are all in the context of celebrating the year of St. Joseph. The Church is helping all of us to deepen our understanding and recognition of the tremendous fatherhood and sanctity of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. He was chosen and called to play a very significant role in the lives of Mary and Jesus so that God’s wonderful plan would be fulfilled. And the gospels provide us with bits of information on how Joseph righteously responded to God’s call for him. As a righteous person, he operates the way God would like him to, he cooperates with God’s plan, and most importantly, he totally incorporates his life into God. That is the fatherhood and sanctity of St. Joseph in a nutshell. St. Joseph was, is, and always will be the exemplar of all fathers. He ignites the world with his extraordinary obedience and unquestionable humility. He is thinking right. He is acting right. Everything is going right in him because he is right in performing the Will of God.
With that sentiment, I’m not only extending my sincerest greetings of Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, but I also would like to challenge you to imitate St. Joseph’s fatherhood and sanctity in the best way you can. Perhaps you can do that by always being:
Faithful
Amiable
Truthful
Humble
Exemplar of obedience
Responsible and
Simple
In today’s gospel we are reminded that things do not always turn out as we expect. The disciples assumed that they would have a smooth sailing journey because Jesus was with them. Bu, lo and behold, a fierce wind came up and the big waves put them into real danger. The disciples never thought to have this kind of situation would happen to them because Jesus was with them. However, the gospel ends with a powerful message from what Jesus then did. “’Quiet! Be still!’ The wind ceased and there was great calm” (Mark 4:39). Here we realize that we can’t control everything. We are not in control. God is. We can’t make things happen in the way we want them to unfold. We can’t control the future. We don’t know what the future holds. Only God knows.
I think this is one of the things we should all greatly consider this weekend. Let us trust God. Let us allow Him to be God of our life and our daily activities. I wish that all of us, especially our fathers, be more trustful to God and truly aware that He is in control. Let us learn to surrender!
May God bless you and your family,
Fr. Joel Ricafranca, RCJ
(Associate Pastor, St. Jerome Parish)