June 15, 2008
Fatherhood
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, June 15th, 2008
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). These words are equally true today as Jesus looks out on the people of our culture, “troubled and abandoned” like children without a father. The opening lines of this Gospel are a clear call to pray for an increase in priest-pastors, the shepherds of God’s people, and I continually beg you to please pray for priests and an increase in vocations to the priesthood. But on this Father’s Day, I propose that this Gospel also invites us to pray for all fathers, to look to St. Joseph as a father, and to renew our trust in God our Father.
Fatherhood is little revered and even mocked in our society. Consider the portrayal of fathers in media and entertainment. Homer Simpson for example (yes, I still watch the show on occasion). He is the father of three children, and a lazy, stupid drunk. (Doh! But he’s so funny!) And I recently heard a comedian say, “When I was younger, I used to be afraid of becoming like my father, until I realized that all men are afraid of becoming like my father.” Then he went on to describe his relationship with his father with sarcastic humour, barely disguising some bitterness and lack of forgiveness.
My brothers and sisters, it is so important for us first of all to thank God for our fathers, to forgive those who have failed in some way, praying that their weaknesses or mistakes to damage our relationship with God our Father. I forgive my father, and I hope he forgives me for my past transgressions. I can honestly say that we are friends, and we are actually going fishing soon! (But my brother and father aren’t talking, so I am praying for forgiveness and reconciliation between them).
And I also ask your forgiveness for any of my failures as a priest-father. Sometimes we fathers (spiritual or physical) don’t seem to notice when someone else is hurting, or we neglect to give a word of comfort, a smile of encouragement, or the love that can help heal a wounded heart. Forgive us, pray for us and remember – God alone is the perfect father.
There are disturbing signs in our society of a premeditated and systematic attack on fatherhood – the fatherhood of men and the fatherhood of God. Interestingly, John Paul II has written that “Original sin attempts to abolish fatherhood” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 228, quoted from Theology of the Body Explained, p. 141). And who is at the source of all attempts to abolish fatherhood? It was the devil who whispered in the ear of Eve, and tempts us with similar lies: “God is not your Father. He doesn’t love you. He wants to control you. You can’t trust him.”
The temptation to listen to the lies of the devil and lose our trust in God our Father leads to spiritual dis-eases , psychological problems, and even physical illness. A loss of trust in God our Father contributes to low self-esteem, hypersensitivity, workaholism, alcoholism, addictions, anxiety disorders, insomnia, panic attacks, social phobias, youth rebellion, violence, and so on, and so on.
In yesterday’s paper, for instance, appeared this article, “Hooliganism Begins in the Home,” with this quote: “The question marks placed against male identity, resulting from . . . the progressive and willful destruction of fatherhood, are creating widening spirals of despair, irresponsibility and violence among men and boys” (Ottawa Citizen, June 14th, 2008 – article by Margret Kopala).
What can we do? We can respond by really praying and living the “Our Father.” “Abba, Father, I trust in you.” And by being devoted to God as our Father, so that he can heal us of our spiritual diseases, psychological problems and even physical illnesses.
The Gospel today invites us to pray to our heavenly Father and renew our trust in him. As Jesus tells his disciples: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest” (Mt 9:37-38). Note: A much better translation is “pray” to the Lord of the harvest – and I will explain my reasoning. The original Greek word is “deomai” which can be translated “ask,” “pray” or “beg.” It appears 21 times in the New Testament, and is translated “ask” only 4 times in the NRSV (the version in use in the Canadian Church). In 29 different English Bibles, this verse (Mt 9: ), it is translated “ask” only 7 times, “pray” 17 times, and 5 times using stronger words such as “entreat,” “supplicate” or “beseech.”
In English, there is a significant difference between “asking” God and “praying” to him. “Asking” could be a quick and casual query. “Praying” implies more engagement, devotion, perseverance, and a listening heart. I think a good case can be made that a better translation is: “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” Pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood; pray for fathers; pray for all your needs.
Any farmer will tell you that a plentiful harvest is a course a gift, but with few labourers, it also represents a crisis. The harvest will spoil, so get busy! Work harder! Work a double shift! Work until it gets done! Isn’t that the logical human response to any crisis? Work! But what does Jesus advise? “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few; therefore . . . work harder?” No! “Therefore, pray.”
The price of gas is through the stratosphere! It costs an arm and a leg to commute to Ottawa or to run the machinery for the harvest! What am I going to do? I’ll have to work over-time or get a second job! Work! Stress! Panic! What does Jesus advise in any sort of crisis? “Pray.” Pray to the Lord of the harvest; pray to the Lord of all the earth; pray to your Father in heaven. Every crisis is also an opportunity. Perhaps this world-wide problem of rising food and oil prices will inspire us to simplify our lifestyles and re-arrange our priorities.
Jesus knew about praying in a crisis not only because he is the Son of God, but also because he learned from the example of his earthly father St. Joseph. I simply cannot imagine St. Joseph and the Holy Family being like so many families today – busy, frantic, frenetic – or imagine St. Joseph working and yelling, “Jesus where d’you put my hammer?” And Mary yelling back, “it’s on the window sill where you left it!” Instead, I imagine St. Joseph responding to any problem by leading his family to kneel on the dirt floor of their simple house, kneeling and praying to the Lord of the harvest, to “our Father who art in heaven.” I’m impressed by any man who knows how to fix things, especially since that is not one of my gifts, but I am even more impressed by the man who knows how to kneel, to pray and ask for help.
Why o why are we so busy in our culture? The busy beaver is one of our national symbols. But if you look on a five-cent piece, even he is taking a break, sunning himself on his mound. Why is it that we are so frantic and frenetic, so “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36), like children without a father? My guess is that we have lost our childlike closeness to God our Father, our organic bond to him that is normally passed on to children by the faith of their parents and a Christian culture.
We don’t know what we’ve lost so we don’t know what we are looking for. So many people crave attention, appreciation, affirmation, approval, recognition, success. So many people exhaust themselves, working themselves to the bone, almost in an unconscious attempt to earn something that cannot be earned, something that is a free gift that must be received in faith – the Father’s love, perhaps the love of an earthly father, but above all, the love of our Father in heaven.
On our pilgrimage walk last Sunday, we had a tour of the magnificent chapel of the Grey Nuns on Bruyere Street, where one of the nuns mentioned the devotion of St. Marguerte D’Youville (and Elizabeth Bruyere) to the “eternal Father.” This devotion to the Father is not some pious relic of by-gone days, a forgotten chapter in a dusty book from the basement archives of our country. No, this devotion to the Father is living water, from a pure spring that never dries up, but a spring that we must re-discover; this devotion to the Father can heal us of our low self-esteem, hypersensitivity, workaholism, alcoholism, addictions, anxiety disorders, insomnia, panic attacks, social phobias, youth rebellion, violence, and so on, and so on.
The saints inspire us to trust in God our Father and to call upon him – above all St. Joseph. Jesus is always pointing us toward God the Father, but he also gives us his own earthly father St. Joseph to be a father to us. Devotion to St. Joseph is one of the supernatural solutions to the crisis of fatherlessness in our culture. St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal is not only the largest shrine to St. Joseph in the world, it is also a monument to God the Father, and a privileged place for us to re-discover the living water and renew our trust in our heavenly Father. (By the way we have a car-pool pilgrimage to St. Joseph on Saturday, June 28th – there’s a sign up sheet in the foyer).
Today’s readings remind us that we have every reason to trust in God our Father. In the second reading, we hear: “God (the Father) PROVES his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). In the first reading, the Father encourages the Israelites, saying, “you shall be my treasured possession . . . indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6). “You are my family, my beloved sons and daughters. I am your Father.”
And: “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself” (Ex 19:4). Elsewhere, Scripture compares God to an eagle spreading her wings and hovering over her brood (Deut 32:11). And the peace and joy of living in God’s presence in the temple is described as dwelling in the shadow of God’s wings. These almost “feminine” metaphors illuminate the consoling truth that in the heart of God the Father is all the tenderness of a mother. Then why are we afraid of approaching him? St. Therese of Lisieux said it best when she described her spirituality as that of a child sleeping without fear in her father’s arms.
Tomorrow/today begins the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, which I will be attending from Sunday evening until next Friday or Saturday. It is to the Eucharist that God the Father leads us, through the deserts of this world to the promised land, to his holy mountain and the sanctuary where he dwells among us. It is here that he gathers us under the shadow and protection of his wings, brings us to himself, and feeds us with the Body and Blood of his Son, continually proving his love for us.
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