A Father’s Witness

Today we celebrate Father’s Day in the United States, a day we give thanks for God for the gift of our fathers and father figures, whether they be brothers, uncles, grandfathers, stepfathers, godfathers, or spiritual fathers, and to ask God to bless them. The readings for today, the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, I feel are very appropriate for today’s holiday.

In the first reading we hear of Jeremiah who feels he is being surrounded by people who denounce him and reject him, yet he places his trust in the Lord. In the responsorial psalm, the Psalmist expresses a similar sentiment, crying of the “insult” and suffering he willingly endures because of his witness to the Lord, reminding the listener of God’s kindness and mercy. St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that although through one man sin entered the world, bringing about death, the obedience of Jesus, the New Adam, opens for us an ever overflowing fountain of mercy and grace. Finally, in the Gospel, Jesus affirms us in our dignity and worth in the Lord, that even the smallest detail of our lives are important to the Father. All this, our earthly fathers ought to reflect and to bear living witness.