His eternal providence

TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
June 20, 2021

Moments of adversity have a way of making us question everything, including God, our faith and, indeed, life in general. Job was in that situation having experienced untold hardships. He did not understand why, despite living virtuously, he had to suffer so much misfortune. The disciples of Jesus were in a similar situation, exposed to a violent storm, while traveling alongside the master. They felt so terrified and so certain that they were on the verge of disaster that they wondered if He did not care. It was indeed ironic to hear them ask Jesus if He did not care that they were perishing, which only goes to show how little they knew Him, despite having spent so much time with Him. At His command, the wind calmed down to their utter amazement, because He did not just care, He loved them. This was a nature miracle that showed Jesus’s Lordship over all things including nature. But is also showed that God would not allow anything to harm His own who put their trust in Him. Despite rebuking Job, and testing him for a little while, God restored his fortunes, a proof of His eternal providence and everlasting love. Today’s Psalm recounts God’s eternal love, inviting us to an attitude of praise and gratitude. It is important that God’s eternal love is put on display today, as we celebrate Father’s Day. Father’s like Saint Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus and the patron saint of our Archdiocese, embody those values whose perfection are found in God, the Almighty Father. They are entrusted with the vocation to lead, to protect and to nurture with loving tenderness, the families of God here on earth. We offer prayers for all fathers that they may continue live up to their divinely appointed responsibilities. We pray for fathers who feel inadequate and despairing, that they may draw strength from the examples of Saint Joseph. We also pray for all fatherless children that God in His eternal providence may shelter them through the support of kind and loving relatives, friends and neighbors, as they struggle to grow up in a dangerous world. May all our actions, fathers and everyone, draw strength from the love of God through whose providence we have our being. To Him be all the glory forevermore, Amen.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers in our parish and all around the world