Happy Father's Day Reflection by Fr. John

“I am with you all days, even to the [end] of the world. (Mt 28:20)’” began Pope Francis in his main catechesis, quoting the very last words of Matthew’s Gospel, . . .  [and] recall the prophetic proclamation we find at its beginning: ‘[T]hey shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us, (Mt 1:23; cf. Is. 7:14)’”

God is with us always . . .  The Lord is Our Anchor giving us stability, security, and providing us surety of life. “[T]he anchor,” said Pope Francis, “is the instrument that navigators throw on the beach – and then they grab onto the anchor line to pull the ship to shore. Our faith is the anchor [we have] in heaven: we have our lives anchored in heaven.”  (Pope Francis, April, 2017). Our ancestors of faith, fathers and mothers of faith, who have gone before us, are links in the chain as we have learned from them in a unique way and from personal example, the teachings of the Lord.

The Anchor is a symbol of hope – as we see the Cross of Christ in its center; “[ in the Lord], we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to hold fast to the hope that lies before us. . . This we have as an anchor of the soul . . . “ (Hebrews 6:18-19).

Fathers and mothers of our Catholic Faith Tradition are those that are foundational from the early church community in which they shared their writings and their Spirit-guided examples seen in the saints and our Jewish and Christian ancestors. But also, the links of our chains of our lives are those mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, Godmothers and Godfathers and those that have provided parental love and wisdom in our lives whom we have celebrated in the month of May on Mother’s Day and this weekend as we celebrate and honor all whom we remember on Father’s Day. These  important links in our chain of life that help us understand our traditions and the importance of the sacraments passing them on from generation to generation. These sacred sharings  of God’s life and love flow from our earthly and heavenly relationships and all anchor us to the Divine. They form the links of our chains and are formed from the earliest Christians and from all whom we honor these two months of springtime. They continue to teach us, renew us, refresh us, and help us to be anchored on earth to heaven above.

To all who have helped us, guided us, protected us as links to our anchor of faith through their fatherly care . . .             

      A Father’s Day Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Today we ask You to bless our earthly fathers for the many times they reflected the love, strength, generosity, wisdom and mercy that You exemplify in Your relationship with us, Your children.

We honor our fathers for putting our needs above their own convenience and comfort; let them be examples of faith and love that shine forth -- for teaching us to show courage and determination in the face of adversity; for challenging us to move beyond our self interests; for modeling the qualities that would turn us into responsible, caring adults of good character.

Give these men the grace to acknowledge and learn from their mistakes. Help them to be examples of humility and love. We ask your blessing on those men who served  as father figures in our lives. Give new and future fathers the guidance they need to raise happy and holy children, grounded and anchored in a love for God and other people. We pray that all of our fathers who have passed into the next life have been welcomed into Your loving embrace, and that our family will one be day be reunited in your heavenly kingdom.  In union with St. Joseph, whom you entrusted with your Son, we ask your generous blessings today and every day.

Amen.