Homily for June 15, 2008

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2008
Fathers' Day
Ex 19:2-6a
Rom 5:6-11
Mt 9:36-10:8

We honor our Fathers on this Father's Day weekend. It is a day on which the people of the United States and Canada and many other countries express gratitude and appreciation for our fathers. The origin of Father's Day is not clear. The idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in her church.
Having been raised by her father, William Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

Father's Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956. In 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June. So Father's Day was born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day just like we honor our mothers on Mother's Day.

Appreciation is one of the most important aspects of being a father -- our appreciation for our father, and how a father shows appreciation for his children. Appreciation is evident when children feel that their father cares for them, and hopefully, is proud of what they are doing. A father lets his children know this. We all have a great need for approval from our fathers. It has been shown that children who grow up without this approval and caring often have difficulties in their life.

And this brings us to God our Father. Each weekend at Mass you have the opportunity to listen or to read a short selection from the Bible known as the Old Testament. This is always the first of the three readings we have at each Mass. That selection, like today's, usually gives us the story of how the Jewish people related to God, and how God related to them. For centuries these people were travelling from one place to another. Often they had very little food and water. Often enemies took over their land and their cattle. But God would chose a person who would speak for him. Sometimes they listened; many times they went another way. But God never abandoned them. Today he tells them -- and he also tells us -- I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you here to myself. You shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.

That was before Jesus came. But Matthew, in our last Bible reading today, tells us that Jesus continues to do the work of God the Father today. Matthew writes at a time in his community's history after the Temple had been destroyed and Judaism was being reorganized around the synagogues. Those Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were being forced out of the synagogues. They were no longer welcomed. Jesus needs helpers to spread the good news of God to the people who had lost everything. We are told that he chose 12 men to help him. We just heard their names. He calls them apostles.

As apostles they are those who will be sent out to evangelize. When they do this they will make disciples of each of us. The people they are being sent among are in a sorry state, harassed and dejected, lacking guidance and direction. The powers given to the apostles are clearly described. They are to cast out unclean spirits and heal all manner of sickness. They are to be healers of our whole being. They are to heal both the spiritual and the physical.

The names of the twelve apostles are solemnly invoked at this moment of sending out. Partly this is to remind us of their links with the twelve tribes of Israel. These will be the leaders of the new Israel, those who will become the first pastors of the Church, and all who do pastoral work must follow in their steps. Being named right from the beginning of the book of Genesis is an important aspect of being called. It is the solemn acknowledgement of special powers. In being named by Jesus, he also expected obedience.

The apostles' last instruction is a reminder that this sending out is a trial run. They are being sent only to a select group of persons at this time. Here they begin with their own people. The disciples were given the power to cure, cleanse and preach. They were to be a comfort to those who were like sheep without a shepherd. They are sent out to find the lost sheep. But this would be their work, not their playtime.

Generosity does not come easily to most of us. As a young child we tend to hold on to what we have and not share it with others. A truly generous persons -- one who is constantly giving of their time, talent and treasure -- leaves a lasting impression on us.

In a sense we are all wounded healers. This is why, wherever there is illness and poverty, or suffering of any kind, we will often find small groups of Christ's followers, bringing love and compassion to those who are broken. It is out of our own brokenness that we are equipped to follow this path. And we give freely what is given freely to us.

For a majority of men here today, your sacred call or vocation is or will be fatherhood -- one of the most special sacred titles of God Himself. When your life is ended and you are judged by God, your efforts -- not necessarily your success, as shown in the lives of your children -- will be the basis of how God will judge you.

We have not chosen our fathers; fathers have not chosen us. It is our heavenly Father who has joined us together, as God did with their mother, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until death do us part. Today, if you are a father, do not be too proud to say a prayer for yourself -- for strength, for consolation, for whatever you need in your calling to become an even better father to your children and better husbands to their mother. For those of you whose father is still with you, ask God our Father to always help you to show to your father attention, appreciation and affection. That is the same attention, appreciation, and affection that God our Father continually shows us.