Sunday, June 17, 2012

Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B


MARK 4:26-34
TODAY IS FATHER'S DAY. IT DOESN'T GET AS MUCH PLAY AS MOTHER'S DAY, AND THAT'S FINE. WE FATHERS PROBABLY DON'T PUT NEARLY AS MUCH DIRECT EFFORT INTO RAISING OUR CHILDREN THAN DO THEIR MOTHERS. ON THE OTHER HAND, MOST OF US HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR BREADWINNER, THE DISCIPLINARIAN, AND THE ONE WHO TAKES THE KIDS OFF THEIR MOTHER'S HANDS ONCE IN A WHILE SO THAT SHE CAN REST OR CATCH UP ON OTHER THINGS. A LONG OR SHORT TIME AGO WE AND OUR WIVES MADE THE DECISION TO HAVE CHILDREN, AND WITH GOD'S HELP, CHILDREN CAME ALONG. EVERY DAY WE DO WHAT WE MUST; AND EVERY EVENING WE GO TO BED KNOWING THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE MORE. THERE ARE ALL THOSE MOMENTS WHEN WE COULD HAVE SPENT TIME WITH THE KIDS BUT DIDN'T BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE SEEMED MORE IMPORTANT AT THE TIME. THERE ARE THOSE TIMES WHEN BECAUSE OF A TEMPER FRAYED AT THE WORKPLACE WE OVER-REACTED TO SOMETHING THAT NORMALLY WOULDN'T HAVE MADE US LOOK UP FROM OUR NEWSPAPER. AND WE GO TO BED GRATEFUL THAT OUR CHILDREN HAVE SHORT MEMORIES AND ARE DISPOSED TO LOVE US AND LOOK UP TO US REGARDLESS OF OUR MANY FAULTS.
AND AS THE GOSPEL SAYS, WE SEW THE SEED AND SLEEP AND RISE AND THE SEED GROWS AND YIELDS FRUIT, WE KNOW NOT HOW. AND WE OLDER FATHERS LOOK AT OUR CHILDREN, AT THEIR INDEPENDENCE, THEIR SEPARATE AND UNIQUE PERSONALITIES; WE REJOICE IN THEIR JOY, WE FEEL THEIR PAIN; AND SOMETIMES WE GRIEVE BECAUSE THEY LEAVE THE CHURCH OR FIND THEMSELVES IN FAILED MARRIAGES OR DIE BEFORE WE DO. AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT GOD HAS THE GREATEST HAND IN HOW THINGS ARE GOING TO TURN OUT FOR THEM, AND WE ARE JUST INSTRUMENTS.
THERE IS A MOMENT IN SCRIPTURE WHEN THE NOTION OF FATHERHOOD TURNS UPSIDE DOWN. REFERRING TO GOD AS FATHER WAS NOT VERY COMMON AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. FOR THEM, A FATHER WAS, WELL, LIKE FATHER ABRAHAM. ABRAHAM COULD COMMAND HIS WIFE TO JOIN THE HAREM OF THE LOCAL PRINCE; IF SHE WAS NOT FERTILE, HE COULD TAKE HER MAIDSERVANT. AND WHEN HE HAD A SON BY THIS MAIDSERVANT, AND SARAH BECAME UPSET, HE HAD NO COMPUNCTION AGAINST DRIVING THE SON AND HIS MOTHER INTO THE DESERT, PRESUMABLY TO DIE. AND STRONG AS ABRAHAM'S FAITH WAS, THERE IS STILL SOMETHING SHOCKING, AFTER ALL THESE CENTURIES, TO IMAGINE HIM ABOUT TO KILL THE SON HE LOVED BECAUSE HE WAS COMMANDED BY GOD TO DO SO. AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT OTHER EXAMPLES OF FATHERS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, AMONG THE PATRIARCHS, AMONG THE KINGS, THEY WERE DESPOTS TO THEIR CHILDREN AS WELL AS TO THEIR WIVES. DAVID'S FAVORITE SON, ABSOLOM, REBELLED AGAINST HIM AND TRIED TO TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM. IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS, FATHERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO PUT THEIR SONS TO DEATH FOR CURSING THEM. IN THE PSALMS, THERE ARE A FEW REFERENCES TO GOD AS FATHER, BUT MOST OF THEM HAVE TO DO WITH GOD DISCIPLINING HIS CHILDREN, OR INSTRUCTING THEM.
BUT SOMETHING CHANGED, AND IT CHANGED NOT WITH JESUS, BUT WITH JOSEPH. FOR JOSEPH WAS THE NEW KIND OF FATHER. HIS WIFE AND SON DID NOT EXIST FOR HIM, BUT HE FOR THEM. HE WAS A JUST MAN FROM THE BEGINNING; WHEN HE BELIEVED MARY HAD BEEN MADE PREGNANT BY ANOTHER MAN, HE DID NOT TAKE THE REMEDY HE COULD HAVE, WHICH WAS TO DEMAND THAT SHE BE STONED, OR EVEN, DEMAND THAT SHE BE CAST OUT OF THE VILLAGE. HE MADE UP HIS MIND TO TELL PEOPLE THAT SHE WAS CARRYING HIS CHILD, BUT THEY JUST COULDN'T GET ALONG ANY MORE. JOSEPH WOULD TAKE THE SHAME AND THE GUILT. AND JOSEPH ALWAYS LOOKED TO GOD FOR HIS DIRECTION, RATHER THAN HIMSELF. WE HAVE FIVE INSTANCES IN WHICH JOSEPH MADE DECISIONS BASED UP HIS DREAMS, DECISIONS WHICH HE NEVER WOULD HAVE MADE IF HE WERE PURSUING HIS OWN INTERESTS. AND WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE THOSE YEARS IN NAZARETH, WHEN JOSEPH TAUGHT JESUS HIS TRADE, WHEN JOSEPH HELPED JESUS STUDY THE HOLY BOOKS OF ISRAEL, WHEN JOSEPH TREATED MARY AS A REAL HUMAN BEING AND EQUAL PARTNER, RATHER THAN AS HIS PERSONAL POSSESSION, HIS SLAVE – THE WAY WOMEN WERE USUALLY TREATED IN THOSE DAYS.
AND JOSEPH ONLY KNEW THAT THIS CHILD WAS SPECIAL BECAUSE OF HIS DREAMS. JESUS, AFTER ALL, WAS LIKE US IN ALL THINGS BUT SIN. AND JOSEPH GOT UP EVERY MORNING AND PUT IN A LONG DAY AT WORK, SPENT SOME TIME STUDYING, PRAYED IN THE SYNAGOGUE ON SATURDAYS, MADE THE ODD PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM, AND HE WORRIED ABOUT BILLS, AND TRIED TO WALK THE LINE WITH JESUS BETWEEN BEING A DISCIPLINARIAN AND BEING SOMEONE JESUS COULD COME TO WITH HIS QUESTIONS AND TROUBLES. JOSEPH HAS BEEN WHERE ALL OF US FATHERS HAVE BEEN.
AND JOSEPH GREW SICK AND DIED, AND ON HIS DEATHBED HE LOOKED AT THIS SON, WHO HAD GROWN TO BE A GOOD MAN, A GOOD CARPENTER, AND A DECENT HUMAN BEING; BUT NOTHING SPECIAL, NOT YET. AND JOSEPH THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, IT IS AS IF A MAN WERE TO SCATTER SEED ON THE LAND, AND IT WOULD SPROUT AND GROW, HE KNOWS NOT HOW.
AND MAYBE JESUS WAS THE FIRST TO KNOW A NEW KIND OF FATHER, A FATHER SO CLOSE, SO LOVING, SO CARING; A FATHER WHO PUT HIMSELF COMPLETELY AT THE SERVICE OF HIS WIFE AND SON; A FATHER WHO LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THOSE HE LOVED. AND WHEN JESUS WAS DESCRIBING GOD, THE IMAGE THAT CAME CLOSEST TO WHAT JESUS KNEW GOD TO BE WAS FATHER, THE ESSENCE OF FATHERHOOD, REFLECTED WITH SUCH CLARITY IN THE HUMBLE CARPENTER, JOSEPH.
BEING A FATHER IS AN AWESOME RESPONSIBILITY AND A GREAT PRIVILEGE. TOGETHER WITH THEIR MOTHER, A FATHER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH UNDER THE BEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES WILL RAISE UP SAINTS. HE DOES THIS BY PROVIDING THE MATERIAL NEEDS OF THE FAMILY; HE DOES THIS EVEN MORE BY BEING A ROLE MODEL FOR HIS CHILDREN; AND HE DOES THIS MOST SUCCESSFULLY BY GIVING HIMSELF UP, EMPTYING HIMSELF OUT, DAY AFTER DAY, IN IMITATION OF GOD THE FATHER. AND A FATHER DOES ALL HE CAN, KNOWING THAT, LIKE JOSEPH, HE WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE THE FRUITS OF HIS EFFORTS; BUT HIS CHILDREN AND HIS CHILDREN'S CHILDREN WILL ALL BEAR HIS MARK, FOR GOOD OR FOR BAD.
MAY WE FATHERS LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT WHEN OUR CHILDREN SAY THE LORD'S PRAYER, THEY IMAGINE OUR FACES WHEN THEY SAY THE WORDS, “OUR FATHER”.
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!