Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers of our parish community! We thank God for the gift of our fathers. The vocation of being a father is of the utmost importance to all of us. Fathers are meant to show their children the love of God, our Father in Heaven. Jesus teaches us to call God our Father and so He reveals to us the kind of love that God has for us. God is our loving Father. He watches over us, He guides us, He encourages us, He comforts us, and He loves us more than we can even imagine. God does all these things through the fathers He has given us here on earth.
The role of a father in the life of a child is most essential because through our earthly fathers we can get a sense of what God our Father in Heaven is really like. How sad it is when children do not have the benefit of a loving father to guide them in this life.
So let us pray for all fathers on this special day, that God will help them to be a true reflection of the love that He has for all His children. We pray also for all our fathers who have died, that God may give them the rewards of their labors in the eternal joy of His Heavenly Kingdom.
In the Gospel today, Jesus reminds us of the great love God has for us and how we need to be confident in that love, trusting that God loves us more than we can even imagine. God watches over all of His creation, especially His children. God is totally aware of all that goes on in our world and in our lives. This does not mean He makes everything happen. He allows us to use our gift of free will to choose whether we want to listen to Him or not. He calls us to choose His way of love, and He gives us others to help us to know His love. This is why He gives us mothers and fathers.
Our celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart last Sunday was very inspiring and prayerful in every way, along with our parish picnic, despite the rainy weather. A big thank you all who helped to plan the picnic and who made it all happen, especially the parish council members, the Knights of Columbus, the Altar and Rosary Society, and all who attended the gathering. These parish events are a lot of work, but enjoyed by many. They are important events because they provide opportunities for us to get together and renew friendships and make new friendships. Thank you for making this event important as we try to share the love of God with others.
Finally, the time of my retirement approaches. After 29 years of being here with you at Sacred Heart, I am feeling a mix of emotions, sadness and happiness, gratitude and disappointment, looking back and looking forward. Sometimes it makes your head spin wondering where it is all going and how it will end up. As Jesus reminds us in the Gospel, not to be worried, but have faith in God since He is always with us in good times and in bad. He loves us more that we can ever know because that is all He can do, because God is love.
