“Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it”
Fathers. We all have one, whether we have known him or not… whether we like him… or not; whether we love him… or not. Some of us have been blessed with wonderful fathers whom we love and love us—and have even served as role models for us as fathers ourselves. Some of us may even have had fathers who were lacking, or just absent. Either way, it is undeniable that the a father leaves a permanent character mark on his child and his family.
In our faith life as well, we are a family. In our relationship with God… with the Trinity… we see a family dynamic taking place. God the Father created us and loves us so very much that He sent His Son, and through that love we have the gift of the Holy Spirit. This we heard about a few short weeks ago on Trinity Sunday. How much does God love us? And how is this love a model for our families… especially as fathers?
In our first reading, from the prophet Zechariah, we see just how much God loves His chosen people, Israel. He gives them a spirit of grace as they have never known before. What a gift to give one’s children!
In our second reading, from St. Paul to the Galatians, Paul makes it clear that in Christ there is no distinction… whatever status one may have in the outside world doesn’t matter because in Christ all are of equal rank and dignity since Christ died and rose for all equally.
Finally, in Luke’s Gospel today we see that to completely follow Christ, we must daily take up our cross and follow Him. There is more, though… in order to save our lives we must lose it to Him. What a profound statement! To give up ALL for Christ!!! To even begin to ponder that is so profound… that means that everything that we are… our very identities… our very selves… talents, warts and all… each and every element of who we are must be given totally and completely back to God. This is what he is telling us to do in order to save our very lives. That is a challenging call… but if we think about it, it also makes sense. It is what is at the basis of a good family life as well.
Since today is Father’s Day, I will be addressing the dads, but everything I am saying applies to all here present equally. Now… as a father, think about it, what do you want most for your family? In other words, if you could give them anything, what would it be? Would it not be complete and utter happiness? Would it not be the ‘spirit of grace and petition’ that Zechariah speaks of? Again for you fathers, when you look at your family, what do you see? Do you look at your children as the ‘brown haired girl’ or the ‘blue-eyed boy?’ or do you see them as all equal in love and dignity and love them equally but uniquely according to their personalities? This is what St. Paul is talking about when he says that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free person, etc…
As for what you would do for your family… if you are like me, there is not one thing that you would not do for them to make their lives better. If need be, would you not put in the day’s work, drive to the soccer or baseball or football field for practice or a game, come home, help with homework, and if your wife is tired or ill make some dinner and finally make sure that everything is in order before you relax? OK… that may seem a little much for some of us, but in truth isn’t this the essence of what a good family life is all about? Is this not what we are called to be AS a family?
Even beyond that, this is what God is calling us to in our faith in him. We are his Children…as much as we love our families, how much more does the God of the Universe love us? Of course it makes sense to lose our life to Christ… the Son of the Living God… because that losing of life allows us to have complete trust in our Savior and Creator! Who better to have that complete trust in?!?
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