Ordinary of the Mass
Mass Text - Latin
Mass Text - English
Collects for Deceased Father and Mother
Today is the fifth Sunday after
Pentecost on the Church calendar, and the day on which civil society observes
Father's Day. As I observed on Mother's Day, it is appropriate that we include
those men (and even a few women) who have been kind enough to step into the
fatherly role when our natural fathers were unable or unwilling.
In the Catholic Church we have two role
models for fathers to emulate. One would be God Himself, and the other would be
Saint Joseph who stood in as the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
attributes of Saint Joseph may be more familiar to us because Joseph was a
tangible human being, very much like we and our own fathers. But, really, all
of the fatherly attributes of Saint Joseph have their origin in God the Father.
Joseph, of course was not
the biological father of Jesus, but in every other way he deserves to be
identified as “father.” Joseph was both protector and provider for our Lord and
for His holy mother. It was Joseph who led Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt
when the bloodthirsty King Herod was trying to murder our Infant Lord. It was
Joseph who protected the holy home in Nazareth from two and four footed
predators.
It was Joseph who provided for Jesus and
Mary. Quite possibly the house and it's furnishings were made with Joseph's own
hands. With Mary's help, Joseph's labor put food on their table and clothing on
their backs.
Joseph would have been the first teacher
Jesus had for learning the religious customs of the local synagogue and the
Temple at Jerusalem. And there was much to learn. Prayer and the Scriptures
were in Hebrew rather than the everyday Aramaic that people spoke. A Jewish man
or boy said his daily prayers wearing leather “tfillin” which had to be
wound around one arm and one's head to support small leather boxes containing
Scriptural verses. Putting them on was accompanied by a Hebrew prayer. A
Jewish man prayed wearing a "tallit," or prayer shawl, also put on with a
Hebrew prayer. The "tallit" was first worn when a boy become an adult at
bar mitzvah the, a ceremony which required the young man to be able to
read the day's passage from Scripture aloud in Hebrew. Joseph would have taught
Jesus all of these things, or would have seen to an instructor in the unlikely
event that he could not. Joseph, above all, would have taught Jesus by his good
example—d ay by day Jesus would have seen Joseph carrying out the Mitzvahs
(the Commandments) of the Law.
Joseph surely loved Jesus. His reaction
to the loss of Jesus in the Temple tells us as much. Jesus was the Son of his
beloved wife. But the love of a father for a son is a special kind of love.
Fathers want to see their sons grow up to be responsible men—men who will
themselves be good fathers. They want their sons to grow up as protectors,
providers, educators, and paternal lovers.
Protector, provider, educator, and
paternal lover. It is not difficult to see God the Father in all of these
roles. It is reasonable to say that these are the marks of all good fathers.
Today we honor all men who have demonstrated this similarity to God and Saint
Joseph.
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Now, let me change direction a bit, and
let us see how today's Scripture readings correlate with our Father's Day
observance. It is pretty clear that the readings relate to something which we
call “brotherhood.” This is something about which we hear a great deal—and a
lot of what we hear is mostly hot air. We must learn to be suspicious whenever
we hear proclaimed “the Brotherhood of Man.” Sometimes this “Brotherhood” is
proclaimed by those who would have us all deny the Fatherhood of God (the
Freemasons, perhaps). Sometimes this “Brotherhood” is proclaimed by those who
mean a brotherhood of the unproductive united against those who produce the
goods of this world—a brotherhood of thieves (the Marxists, perhaps). Other
times it is a “Brotherhood” of the elite political and moneyed classes united
against everyone else, really intending to make slaves of all mankind. Most
often the false “Brotherhood” is a combination of all these things,
some sort of socialism. And to quote economist, Tom DiLorenzo:
A defining characteristic of socialism in all its forms in all places
and at all times is a relatively small political elite (and its “private
sector” cronies) that lives lavishly by plundering its population,
destroying its economy, imposing a regime of equality of poverty and
misery; and turning almost everyone into a dependent on the state for
survival.
This is not a “brotherhood of man,” but rather a
“brotherhood of thieves.”
But it should be obvious that there can
be no Brotherhood of Men without the Fatherhood of God. In the state of
original sin, we are all base creatures. In our fallen nature we tend to do all
of the things forbidden by the Commandments. We know better, for God's law is
written in the hearts of men and women. Saint Paul writes:
For the invisible things of [God], from the creation of the world, are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; his eternal
power also, and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.
We call this the “Natural Law.” It is obvious to any
clearly thinking person that society cannot exist if it's members go about
beating, stealing, lying, and cheating on one another—yet so many think that
they are unique, with everyone else being bound to good behavior, while they do
whatever they please. “The Commandments are for everyone else but me”!!
The message of today's readings is that
for the love of God we must have true love of neighbor. It is because of the
Fatherhood of God that we are capable of “not rendering evil for evil.”
It is because of the Fatherhood of God that we will refuse to be angry with a
brother—certainly not killing him, and not even calling him names.
We are motivated to do good by God’s
promise of a reward and our desire to “enter the kingdom of heaven.” But more
importantly, we are given the wisdom and the strength to avoid evil by God’s
sanctifying grace—again, we see God as protector and provider. Further, what we
should know from the Natural Law is confirmed by revelation from God, through
His Son and conveyed by His Church—again, we see the Father as our Educator.
Finally, we see that God is our paternal
lover—He who wants His sons and daughters to grow into responsible adults, who
will be responsible mothers and fathers themselves—He who wants us to love our
neighbors, because they are our brothers and sisters, precisely because we all
have God as our common Father.
Please join me in offering this Mass for
all of our departed fathers and mothers. If you are lucky enough that Dad is
still among the living, please go and see him today—at least call him on the
phone. And let God know that you appreciate His Fatherhood as well.
