11th Sunday of Ordinary Time (6/17/2007)

Homilist: Fr. Donald Brick

We live in a age with so many distractions and various things that come in our lives that we can loss our priorities. Each man here if I interviewed you what are you priorities and you would give them A, B, C, D. If I gave you twenty dollars would walk a metal beam one foot off the ground and twenty feet high and six inches wide. . What if I raised it 10 feet, up and 20 feet and 6incheswhat if I gave you 100,000 dollars. Money talks. What if I took that same 20 ft beam 6 inches wide and I put it 25 feet in the air for a million dollars. If I took that same beam 20 ft beam 6 inches wide and put it between the two towers at Holy Hill and gave you a 1,000,000 dollars. . If I took the same beam and said you must walk the beam to see your wife and or daughter again. I want to ask you what are willing to walk the beam for a bigger car, new house, your children, your wives. We must ask what we are willing to live for.

Through the sacrament of Baptism we have been united to Christ in a union which far exceeds mere solidarity of feeling: we have been crucified with Him, dying with Him to sin, so as to rise reborn into a new life. This new life requires us to live in a new, supernatural way, which with the help of grace gradually becomes stronger and stronger and acts to perfect the human person’s behavior; he is no longer living on a purely natural level. That is why a Christian should live as Christ lived, making the affections of Christ his own, so that he can exclaim with St. Paul: “It is now no longer I who live but Christ lives in me... to such an extent that each Christian is not simply another Christ, but Christ Himself!

The life in Christ which the Apostle is speaking about here is not a matter of feelings: it is something real which grace brings about: “Paul’s soul was in between God and his body: his body was alive, and moved, thanks to the action of Paul’s soul; but his soul drew its life from Christ’s action. Therefore, in referring to the life of the flesh, which he was living, St. Paul speaks of ‘the life I now live in the flesh’; but as far as his relationship with God was concerned, Christ it was who was living in Paul, and therefore he says, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God’; it is He who lives in me and makes me act” St Paul exclaimed, “to me to live is Christ”.

All of this is a consequence of the passion of Christ and His love for us. St. Paul comes to appreciate through faith that Christ’s passion affects us personally. People who are very keen on academic pursuits or on sports refer to these things as being “their life”. If someone pursues only his own interest, he is living for himself. If, on the contrary, he seeks the good of others, we say that he lives for others. Therefore, if we love Jesus and are united to Him, through Him, with Him and in Him, then we will live for Him. Do you love the earth? St. Augustine exclaims. You will be earth. Do you love God? What am I to say? That you will be God? I almost do not dare to say it, but Scripture says it, “You are gods, sons of the Most High.”

I was reading recently the story of the famous convert of the 19th century, Hermann Cohen, a brilliant musician, idolized as a the young prodigy of his time in the salons of central Europe: a kind of modern version of the young Francis.

After his conversion he wrote to a friend: "I looked for happiness everywhere: in the elegant life of the salons, in the deafening noise of balls and parties, in accumulating money, in the excitement of gambling, in artistic glory, in friendship with famous people, in the pleasures of the senses. Now I have found happiness, I have an overflowing heart and I want to share it with you. ... You say, 'But I don't believe in Jesus Christ.' I say to you, 'Neither did I and that is why I was unhappy.'"

Now this fits into Father’s day because the Father in heaven has adopted each one of us as His daughter or son. I am fond of reminding fathers. How many of you are fathers? Some sociologists of religions say the reason we use the word Father to describe God is because we are all looking for a better father. But those of us who are Christians know the opposite is true. We do not call God our Father because of our fathers. We call our fathers Father because of the Fatherhood of God. St Paul says, “all fatherhood in heaven and on earth receives its name from Him. I am very fond of reminding those of you who are fathers that you are terribly significant in the lives of your families because you are suppose to be sacrament, a sign a image of the Fatherhood of God. Now are you? Father’s day is a day we thank our fathers but it is also a day in which we challenge our fathers, to be really fathers after the image of the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is what fatherhood is about. We ask the Lord to give you the grace to be that kind of father not only when you are young but throughout your lives. Your wives should recognize in your fatherhood the Fatherhood of God, not just your children but your wives need to see that fatherhood. All of us men whether we are married or not are in some ways called to model the Fatherhood of God in the lives of others. Fathers have a role that go beyond the immediate family and all of us who are men need to become good Fathers. I have to be a spiritual father to people. We call the priest father for no other reason than we are suppose to model the Fatherhood of God. All of us who are men are called at this national holiday are called to look at ourselves and ask if we are masculine Christians in our relationships with others. Are we real men who pour our lives out for others. Are we real men who model the self-sacrificing man who gave Himself up on the Cross for love of us. Jesus’ self-sacrifice is what Christian manhood is about and this feast is an occasion for us to remember this call.

Often men will offer their lives for kids and their wives. The problem comes in for men who are willing to die for your wives and children. but how many men are willing to live for your children. It is easy to die for your children but it is more difficult to live for your children. Your children will never go out of existence! One of the struggles is bringing yourself in sacrificial love to your wife and children. One of the struggles is the split between faith and everyday. This is the problem is what to bring in your everyday life. We know what we are to die for? If men are to correctly understand their role in the family they have to turn to the church to discover what their role really is. In the church the father is the chief catechist and the Catechism states, “it is nearly impossible to substitute the father.” Is that amazing is nearly impossible to substitute and the role of the father in family so critical to the development of the kids it is nearly impossible to substitute. Men we have a tough task so we should pray to St. Joseph often that he will help you become a holy father and to live for Christ and your family and reveal the precious gift which is the Fatherhood of God.