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Alright. Now it's summer and hopefully I will be posting more often. I made this LJ to keep track of my growth as a writer, and I need to post more in here. And one of the things I write sometimes are homilies for church....just this morning I spoke at 11:00 mass for Father's Day. No, I'm not trying to evangelize through my LJ, and if it makes you uncomfortable, that's why it's in a LJ-cut. I will try to remember to do this whenever I post something church-related, because I know that some people aren't big on the church-thing, and I don't want anyone to think that I'm trying to convert you all. Anyway. I'm Roman Catholic, in case you're wondering. Oh, and the reading this was based on is Matthew 28:16-20
If you’ve ever seen a father hold a newborn baby, you know how unconditional love can flow from that father to the baby. That baby will grow up to lie to its father, come home late, talk back, and to receive a bad grade or two. The father knows this, but he loves his baby just the same. There is nothing a child can do to separate itself from its father’s love. Not only do our fathers love us in this way, but God does, too. After all, God is the Father of all things. No matter what we do, God forgives us, and is always with us. At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” This is the very last thing Jesus says to his disciples and I think it’s one of the most comforting passages in the entire Bible. I know there have been plenty of times in my life where I’ve been hurting, and felt the pain so much that I thought, “you know, I just can’t think about God right now”, and I set my faith aside so that I could otherwise “deal” with my problems. And I think it’s times like these that God says, “That’s okay…..she’ll be back.” And in the end, I always do turn back to God. And when I do, whatever is causing me pain helps me to appreciate God’s love even more. In the same way, our fathers are always there for us, too. As a teenager, I know how often my parents ask me what’s wrong and I answer, “nothing” or “I don’t want to talk about it.” And I think that fathers realize that their children simply need some time to grow and come back to their parents.
My dad and I don’t have deep conversations very often. My dad is one of many, if not all, dads who enjoy sleeping in the lazy boy with the TV on. When we go up north, my dad is the one with the geeky camouflage fishing hat that he wears while walking in the woods in sweatpants in 90-degree weather. Needless to say, sometimes it’s a little hard for me to connect with my Dad….but I really don’t give him as much credit as he deserves. Usually, when I’m riding with my dad in his big white truck (sometimes referred to as “The Beast”), we ride in silence, unless he’s reminding me that we live in Wisconsin and I need to pump the brakes when there’s snow because otherwise the car won’t stop. Sometimes, though, when I’m just staring out the window, my dad will randomly say something about exactly what I’m thinking about. Obviously this doesn’t happen very often, but I can remember a few times when my dad has told me that I don’t need the certain friend who’s causing me unreasonable pain, because there are better friends out there. Or that high school relationships aren’t really as important as other things. Usually when my dad tells me things like these, I become indignant because after all – things that cause me pain are certainly important to me. It isn’t usually until after that I can see wisdom in the things he tells me in moments like those. It’s easy to see the similarity in my relationship with my father, and the way I sometimes foolishly set my faith aside only to later find that my faith had the answer all along.
It’s easy enough to come back to your faith if you know that it’s there....But sometimes knowing it exists is a challenge in itself. At the beginning of the passage, the disciples go to the top of the mountain Jesus ordered them to go to. They saw Jesus, and they worshiped him, but they still doubted. I think this describes the downside of human nature sometimes. That Jesus’ disciples saw Him – worshiped him even – but they still doubted what they were doing. When I first read this passage, I was little surprised – after all, these were Jesus’ closest and best friends. After Jesus died on the cross just for them, they see him, and they worship him, and they still don’t believe. And yet, after a while, I realized that I’m the same way. I know that Jesus died on the cross, and I know he’s present in my life, and yet at the first sign of trouble, it’s very hard for me to believe that talking to God can make my pain go away. Sometimes it’s very difficult to have faith, but I think that that’s what this Gospel calls us to do. To believe that even during the times when we hurt the most and just want to be left alone, our Father still loves us – perhaps even more.
So, please believe in your father’s love for you, and even more than that, in God’s love for you. Because no matter how many times we fall, our fathers are always there to help us up, even if they happen to be wearing camouflage fishing hats.
If you’ve ever seen a father hold a newborn baby, you know how unconditional love can flow from that father to the baby. That baby will grow up to lie to its father, come home late, talk back, and to receive a bad grade or two. The father knows this, but he loves his baby just the same. There is nothing a child can do to separate itself from its father’s love. Not only do our fathers love us in this way, but God does, too. After all, God is the Father of all things. No matter what we do, God forgives us, and is always with us. At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” This is the very last thing Jesus says to his disciples and I think it’s one of the most comforting passages in the entire Bible. I know there have been plenty of times in my life where I’ve been hurting, and felt the pain so much that I thought, “you know, I just can’t think about God right now”, and I set my faith aside so that I could otherwise “deal” with my problems. And I think it’s times like these that God says, “That’s okay…..she’ll be back.” And in the end, I always do turn back to God. And when I do, whatever is causing me pain helps me to appreciate God’s love even more. In the same way, our fathers are always there for us, too. As a teenager, I know how often my parents ask me what’s wrong and I answer, “nothing” or “I don’t want to talk about it.” And I think that fathers realize that their children simply need some time to grow and come back to their parents.
My dad and I don’t have deep conversations very often. My dad is one of many, if not all, dads who enjoy sleeping in the lazy boy with the TV on. When we go up north, my dad is the one with the geeky camouflage fishing hat that he wears while walking in the woods in sweatpants in 90-degree weather. Needless to say, sometimes it’s a little hard for me to connect with my Dad….but I really don’t give him as much credit as he deserves. Usually, when I’m riding with my dad in his big white truck (sometimes referred to as “The Beast”), we ride in silence, unless he’s reminding me that we live in Wisconsin and I need to pump the brakes when there’s snow because otherwise the car won’t stop. Sometimes, though, when I’m just staring out the window, my dad will randomly say something about exactly what I’m thinking about. Obviously this doesn’t happen very often, but I can remember a few times when my dad has told me that I don’t need the certain friend who’s causing me unreasonable pain, because there are better friends out there. Or that high school relationships aren’t really as important as other things. Usually when my dad tells me things like these, I become indignant because after all – things that cause me pain are certainly important to me. It isn’t usually until after that I can see wisdom in the things he tells me in moments like those. It’s easy to see the similarity in my relationship with my father, and the way I sometimes foolishly set my faith aside only to later find that my faith had the answer all along.
It’s easy enough to come back to your faith if you know that it’s there....But sometimes knowing it exists is a challenge in itself. At the beginning of the passage, the disciples go to the top of the mountain Jesus ordered them to go to. They saw Jesus, and they worshiped him, but they still doubted. I think this describes the downside of human nature sometimes. That Jesus’ disciples saw Him – worshiped him even – but they still doubted what they were doing. When I first read this passage, I was little surprised – after all, these were Jesus’ closest and best friends. After Jesus died on the cross just for them, they see him, and they worship him, and they still don’t believe. And yet, after a while, I realized that I’m the same way. I know that Jesus died on the cross, and I know he’s present in my life, and yet at the first sign of trouble, it’s very hard for me to believe that talking to God can make my pain go away. Sometimes it’s very difficult to have faith, but I think that that’s what this Gospel calls us to do. To believe that even during the times when we hurt the most and just want to be left alone, our Father still loves us – perhaps even more.
So, please believe in your father’s love for you, and even more than that, in God’s love for you. Because no matter how many times we fall, our fathers are always there to help us up, even if they happen to be wearing camouflage fishing hats.