Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:1-4; 1Cor. 11:23-26; Lk. 9:11b-17

To all the fathers, Happy Father’s Day!  Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ as the summit of our Catholic faith.  From Melchizedek in Genesis in his priesthood with “bread and wine” as a foreshadow of Christ himself to St. Paul looking back to the command of Jesus to “do this in remembrance of me” to Christ himself in the multiplication of the loaves and fish, it is a manifestation of the sacrifice of Jesus giving up his body and blood to nourish our lives, remain with us, and lift us up to heaven. 

God the Father has given us his Son for our salvation.  Jesus the Son gives us himself as a sacrifice of love of himself and the Father.  Together they are the epitome of what our lives as Father’s with our children are to reflect.  Our children are a gift from God and we are to give them up to God by raising them to be his children by coming to know, love and serve God.  Jokingly a parent may express their rights over a child with the words “I brought you into this world and I can take you out”.  Nothing can be a more distorted view of life that this, to assume “our” children means total rights over their life.  They as we are a child of God first and we carry a right of responsibility to bring them up as a child of God. 

Fathers are the first image of God the Father to be head of the domestic church at home.  This is a right to make the greater sacrifice for them.  It is in the sacrifice that we gain our authority to lead them in the way of God the Father.  Nothing gives a child more of a lesson of love and humility than to see their Father bow his head and pray, to listen to a Father’s prayer of surrender to God, to hear a Father’s words of love for God and their family.  In a Father’s prayer the mask of false pride and power is removed and the truth of our weakness and trust in God is revealed.  A father’s love is a powerful sign of our heavenly Father to grow in faith, hope and love.

Children believe what their fathers do more than anything they say so that our words may confirm what our actions reveal about our own faith and obedience to God.  If we desire the best for our children, it will never come from what we can give them of the world.  The best for our children comes from our relationship with them learn from us how to be the best God created us to be, to discover purpose and meaning in life, and to see in Jesus that it is in giving of ourselves that we receive the kingdom of God for eternal life.

If we truly believe there is a heaven and a hell and we will determine our eternal destiny by the way we live this life then there is only one thing that matters above all.  It is the “one way” God has provided for us to his glory.  The rest is just a “supporting cast” of gifts from God to live this one way to heaven.  Our home, our work, our friends and family all are a gift of God’s love and mercy.  The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is a reminder of the “one way” we die to ourselves that we may rise to eternal glory.  Let this be the day others see in us our love manifested in our acts of charity to be the true image of God in this world.  Then we will truly live our call as “fathers” making every day a Father’s day.