- A Father’s Day Homily -
The Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)
Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17; Mark 4:35-41
Heroes . . . those who are admired for their courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. A role model. The ideal to strive for.
Man, when I was a young boy, I had dozens of them – Roy Rogers, Robert Young on “Father Knows Best,” Mickey Mantle, John Glenn, John Kennedy. But, as I grew older, my heroes changed. Rather than fictional characters, celebrities and sports figures - individuals lauded and applauded by the world - my heroes became people who I knew personally, people whose names I’m sure you’ve probably never heard of . . . like Sister Agnes Collins, SSND; Fr. John Seidenschwang, Fr. Charles Guarino, Brother James Stoltz, FCS, and of course, Arthur Olsen, my father – Heroes unsung: those whose deeds or influence received little or no fanfare . . . those who looked for little or nothing in return for doing so much . . . those who shied away from the spotlight . . . those who were more comfortable in the shadows.
Today, on this Father’s Day, I sing of one of my unsung heroes. Today, I sing of St. Joseph – a man whose greatness isn’t measured by his words, for we have none of them; a man not recognized for the work of his hands, for he left no lasting monuments; a man whose greatness is perhaps eclipsed by his wife and his son, but whose grandeur is nonetheless evident to all those who take the time to see.
We don't know a lot about Joseph – we know that his father’s name was Jacob and that he was the husband of Mary. We know that he was a carpenter and that he lived in Nazareth. St. Matthew tells us that, after their betrothal but before they lived together, Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and, instead of shaming her or causing scandal, he decided to divorce her quietly. The Gospel tells us that he did this because he was an upright man, a man of principle. We also know that he was a righteous man who followed the law: He followed civil law - he went to Bethlehem for the census. And he observed religious law – we know he went to Jerusalem for the Jewish festivals. We also know that Joseph had dreams and that his faith was strong enough to discern and obey the voice and will of God revealed in them.
St Joseph is the virgin father of Jesus and is a powerful reminder of what fatherhood really means and the importance of a father’s role. It was he who taught Jesus how to be a man; who defied convention in order to protect Mary; who trusted God and was, in turn, found infinitely trustworthy. There’s something strangely attractive about this quiet, self-effacing man about whom we know so little and yet, paradoxically, so much. What the gospels don’t explicitly tell us, we learn from Jesus himself, for Jesus cannot have been other than who his father had helped him become: hard-working, intelligent, humorous, tender-hearted. That final act of Jesus’ life, his death on the cross, is shot through with the love and trust he had learned from Joseph. We can safely say Joseph not only taught his son how to live but also how to die.
Chosen by God since the beginning of time to be the earthly father of the Son of God, no other saint occupies the same orbit as St. Joseph; no other saint is for all time the most fitting icon of the heavenly Father. The one who is God-made-man never called any other saint or angel “Father.” God never obeyed any saint or angel, but Jesus bent his will to the will of Joseph as his father. St. Joseph is the man Jesus would have imitated as a boy; he would have borne the cast of St. Joseph throughout his life, borne it upon the Cross, borne it into his Kingdom. St. Joseph isn’t known as the terror of demons because he was a subtle figure in the drama of Christ. He’s a warrior who discovers himself in the wonder of Mary’s motherhood. He’s the perfect spouse and perfect father who, in imitation of Christ, lays down his life for his bride and son. In doing so, he became the measure of humble discipleship, of Christian fatherhood, of spousal fidelity and of Kingdom chastity. St. Joseph is a man not of words, but, as Archbishop Fulton Sheen was fond of saying, “Words sound but actions thunder.”
As the righteous man, Saint Joseph sets an example for all Christians, as well as all people of good will. In our contemporary society, we need the example of Saint Joseph. In our contemporary society, we need men who are righteous. These are men who love God and follow his will, beginning with respecting the order of creation. These are men who treat others with respect, including women. These are men who desire to marry, who treat their wives as equals and with them bring children into the world. These are men who raise their children to know God and to be good neighbors and good citizens. These are men who help establish a just society, either by being good leaders or by supporting those who are. These are men who will stand against the evils which tear our society apart. These are men who love God and who do nothing unjust to their neighbor.
Who is to be the model for such men? SAINT JOSEPH. Being the spouse of the Mother of God, it is he who teaches us to respect all women. Being the foster father of the Son of God, it is he who teaches us to protect all children. Being most chaste, it is he who teaches us proper attitudes about sexuality. Being the model of workers, it is he who teaches us to do all for the glory of God. Being most humble and most just, it is he who he teaches us to live as brothers and sisters. Being most obedient and faithful, it is he who teaches us to discern the will of God in our lives and follow it.
In an age when fifty percent of marriages end in divorce . . . In an age where pornography overshadows the nature of true marital love . . . In an age where we teach our children to be aggressive more than we encourage them to be gentle . . . In an age when the demands of the job trump responsibility to the family . . . WE NEED ST. JOSEPH!
In an age when the allure of money and power at all cost supersedes ethics and integrity . . . In an age where time and talent are more used for building the Kingdom of Man than the Kingdom of God . . . In an age where looking out for Number One takes priority over service to the needy . . . WE NEED ST. JOSEPH!
In an age where the voice of the godless shouts louder and speaks faster than the voice of God revealed subtly in the dreams of the heart . . . In an age where self-satisfaction rules over selflessness . . . In an age where the desire for being right is stronger than the desire to be righteous . . . WE NEED ST. JOSEPH!
Let us then look to St. Joseph in the moments of our daily life . . . Moments to be virtuous as he was . . . Moments that reflect God to each person who touches our life . . . Moments of silence to hear angels speaking to us . . . Moments of discernment, being able to know God’s command and follow it among all the voices we hear . . . Moments of openness to change – to respond fully to situations that present themselves to us . . . Moments of courage to share what needs to be said or to do what needs to be done.
Yes, I sing of Joseph: Joseph, chaste and just . . . Joseph, prudent and brave . . . Joseph, obedient and loyal . . . Pattern of patience . . . Model of workers . . . Example to parents . . . Pillar of family life . . . Comfort of the troubled . . . Hope of the sick . . . Patron of the dying . . . Terror of demons . . . Protector of the Church.
Today, on this Father’s Day . . . Today in this Year of St. Joseph . . . Today and everyday throughout the entirety my life . . . I sing of Joseph . . . Won’t you too join in my song?
