Fathers' Day, 2004
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Today is Fathers’ Day. The cycle readings has nothing to do with the secular calendar and it certainly has nothing to do with a Hallmark holiday like Fathers’ Day. So isn’t it interesting that today’s Gospel comes up on this particular day? When you get right down to it, doesn’t it really describe what being a dad is all about? And, sometimes it’s pretty easy. If we forget to deny ourselves, there’s usually someone around to do it for us.
A few years ago, when our school was still open, I came to weekday mass one morning because our daughter Megan was the lector that day. After mass, she came up to me in back of church to thank me for coming. Her teacher that day was a substitute so she didn’t know who I was.
You may have noticed that my hair is prematurely grey. I’m really much younger than I look. Anyway, the substitute said to Megan, “Isn’t it nice of your grandpa to come to hear you read?”
Some of you may not be able to see this, but it’s an enlarged copy of the front of a Fathers’ Day card. The guy is slouching on the sofa, a beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other one. On the couch next to him are a bowl of popcorn and the tv remote control. His undershirt doesn’t quite cover his stomach. On the inside of the card there was a joke about dear, old dad.
Now I don’t want to seem overly sensitive here, but can you imagine a Mothers’ Day card like this? I don’t think so.
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
From the time we’re born until we die, life is a series of days where we deny ourselves, take up our crosses and do the best that we can to follow Jesus in hopes of achieving eternal life.
Isn’t fatherhood (and motherhood too) a series of days where we deny ourselves and take up our crosses and try to be the kind of parent Christ wants us to be? And, isn’t it worth it? Megan graduated from high school last month. I realized that, with four kids, we’ve paid for a total of 48 years of Catholic education. We spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours at various practices, games, recitals, and home and school meetings.
Would I do it all over again? Of course I would. In fact, one thing I regret is that I didn’t spend more time with my kids. Didn’t Jesussay “take up your cross DAILY?
We deny ourselves in a lot of ways. The cost of those 48 years of Catholic school would have bought several new cars or a boat or a place at the lake. The time spent at all those practices and games could have been spent in a lot of other ways. But none of that stuff lasts. What does last are the qualities we instill In our kids and the memories of good times for us AND hopefully for them.
Please don’t misunderstand. Even though the idea of carrying the cross may seem like a bad thing, isn’t the cross the instrument of our salvation? He doesn’t ask us to DIE on the cross. He already did that. He asks us to take up OUR cross. That’s how we gain a share in His eternal life. And, as fathers (and mothers, too) don’t we have a kind of immortality through our kids? Good or bad, we live on in them after we’re gone. Kids are a gift from God.
So, we go through this parenting thing hoping to raise the best kids we possibly can. When they’re finally grown, hopefully we can look at them with pride and say “That’s my daughter” or “That’s my son.” And they are. It doesn’t matter if they’re two or fifty-two, they’re still our sons and they’re still our daughters, even though deep down we knows that they really belong to God. He just lets us raise them for a while. And when it’s all said and done, it’s really a very short while. It’s over before we know it.
So, as you reflect on Christ’s words to us today, remember that we’re called to deny ourselves and take up our crosses every day in many different ways…… and always to follow Him.
Happy Fathers’ Day.
Today is Fathers’ Day. The cycle readings has nothing to do with the secular calendar and it certainly has nothing to do with a Hallmark holiday like Fathers’ Day. So isn’t it interesting that today’s Gospel comes up on this particular day? When you get right down to it, doesn’t it really describe what being a dad is all about? And, sometimes it’s pretty easy. If we forget to deny ourselves, there’s usually someone around to do it for us.
A few years ago, when our school was still open, I came to weekday mass one morning because our daughter Megan was the lector that day. After mass, she came up to me in back of church to thank me for coming. Her teacher that day was a substitute so she didn’t know who I was.
You may have noticed that my hair is prematurely grey. I’m really much younger than I look. Anyway, the substitute said to Megan, “Isn’t it nice of your grandpa to come to hear you read?”
Some of you may not be able to see this, but it’s an enlarged copy of the front of a Fathers’ Day card. The guy is slouching on the sofa, a beer in one hand and a sandwich in the other one. On the couch next to him are a bowl of popcorn and the tv remote control. His undershirt doesn’t quite cover his stomach. On the inside of the card there was a joke about dear, old dad.
Now I don’t want to seem overly sensitive here, but can you imagine a Mothers’ Day card like this? I don’t think so.
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
From the time we’re born until we die, life is a series of days where we deny ourselves, take up our crosses and do the best that we can to follow Jesus in hopes of achieving eternal life.
Isn’t fatherhood (and motherhood too) a series of days where we deny ourselves and take up our crosses and try to be the kind of parent Christ wants us to be? And, isn’t it worth it? Megan graduated from high school last month. I realized that, with four kids, we’ve paid for a total of 48 years of Catholic education. We spent hundreds, maybe thousands of hours at various practices, games, recitals, and home and school meetings.
Would I do it all over again? Of course I would. In fact, one thing I regret is that I didn’t spend more time with my kids. Didn’t Jesussay “take up your cross DAILY?
We deny ourselves in a lot of ways. The cost of those 48 years of Catholic school would have bought several new cars or a boat or a place at the lake. The time spent at all those practices and games could have been spent in a lot of other ways. But none of that stuff lasts. What does last are the qualities we instill In our kids and the memories of good times for us AND hopefully for them.
Please don’t misunderstand. Even though the idea of carrying the cross may seem like a bad thing, isn’t the cross the instrument of our salvation? He doesn’t ask us to DIE on the cross. He already did that. He asks us to take up OUR cross. That’s how we gain a share in His eternal life. And, as fathers (and mothers, too) don’t we have a kind of immortality through our kids? Good or bad, we live on in them after we’re gone. Kids are a gift from God.
So, we go through this parenting thing hoping to raise the best kids we possibly can. When they’re finally grown, hopefully we can look at them with pride and say “That’s my daughter” or “That’s my son.” And they are. It doesn’t matter if they’re two or fifty-two, they’re still our sons and they’re still our daughters, even though deep down we knows that they really belong to God. He just lets us raise them for a while. And when it’s all said and done, it’s really a very short while. It’s over before we know it.
So, as you reflect on Christ’s words to us today, remember that we’re called to deny ourselves and take up our crosses every day in many different ways…… and always to follow Him.
Happy Fathers’ Day.
posted by Mike at 7:55 PM
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