A Father’s Witness
“Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father.”Matthew 10:32-33
Today we celebrate Father’s Day in the United States, a day we give thanks for God for the gift of our fathers and father figures, whether they be brothers, uncles, grandfathers, stepfathers, godfathers, or spiritual fathers, and to ask God to bless them. The readings for today, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, I feel are very appropriate for today’s holiday.
In the first reading we hear of Jeremiah who feels he is being surrounded by people who denounce him and reject him, yet he places his trust in the Lord. In the responsorial psalm, the Psalmist expresses a similar sentiment, crying of the “insult” and suffering he willingly endures because of his witness to the Lord, reminding the listener of God’s kindness and mercy. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that although through one man sin entered the world, bringing about death, the obedience of Jesus, the New Adam, opens for us an ever overflowing fountain of mercy and grace. Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus affirms us in our dignity and worth in the Lord, that even the smallest detail of our lives are important to the Father. All this, our earthly fathers ought to reflect and to bear living witness.
The life of a Christian can sometimes feel like that of Jeremiah. Voices everywhere in the world that doubts you, tempts you to abandon a life of virtue and instead pursue a life of pleasure, tells you that you are not enough and that you must earn your dignity and worth, and most deceptive of all, convinces you that God does not exist. But we must stand firm and remember that the Lord is with us, the Lord who loves us and willed us into existence in love, by love, and for love. And we know that perfect love casts out all fear, and that this love has conquered even death.
When the world tries to convince us that we are not worthy or that there are others who are above us or that certain lives are more precious than others, Jesus tells us that those are all lie. We are each created in the image and likeness of God, and God Himself breathed into us the very breath of life. As Christians we must reclaim this truth and to remind ourselves and others of this: that we are each precious in the eyes of God and are worthy of love, and in fact, we each have been loved from all eternity.
The alternative to this is a life that bears witness not to God but to ourselves and to the lies of this world. At times this life is much easier to live because it neither seeks a higher calling nor sees God as our end. This life is tempting because it appeals to our senses and to our fallen nature. But we must not forget that this fallen nature God Himself as assumed and redeemed. We no longer are chained by death, for we have the hope of salvation. This alternate life is a life that wants to bring us back to Egypt, where yes, we enjoy some luxuries, but ultimately are enslaved. Brothers and sisters, Jesus tells us “I no longer call your slaves, but rather friends.” Do not settle to be a slave, but rather live as a child of God.
In a particular way, I encourage all fathers and father figures to live the life of freedom, the life that Jesus has won for us. As fathers, you have the great responsibility of leading your families, your spouses, and your children to God. A father’s witness can be an avenue of God’s grace. Jesus reminds us in the Gospel today what whoever acknowledges Him before others, He will acknowledge him before the Father, and whoever denies Him before others, He will likewise deny before the Father.
Will you live a life that courageously and unwaveringly acknowledges Jesus, bringing light into the darkness, hope in the midst of despair, and life in a world that preaches death? Let’s not be afraid to proclaim from the housetops that we indeed are Christians and that we willingly lead a countercultural life because of the surpassing joy of knowing Jesus Christ. Take courage for the Lord acknowledges you before His heavenly Father.
