First Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-9
Second Reading: Romans 13:8-10
Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

I was struck by one verse in today's Scripture Reading.  This is taken from St Paul's letter to the Romans.  "Love is the answer to every commandment." (Rom 13:10)  I am positive that the word love is one of the most used words in the English vocabulary.  We hear it constantly being repeated on the radio, TV, in songs and in newspapers.  However, I also believe that it is one of the most abused or least understood words in our language.  What is the kind of love that Paul is talking about in today's second reading?  Paul is not talking about any kind of love but specifically about Christian love.  What is the meaning of loving in a Christian manner?

I am going to let St Therese of Liseux speak about this.  She died when quite young, at the age of twenty four.  Some time before she died she did a retreat and she struggled with this question.  What is my vocation?  If I heard her say this in my presence I would have replied, well Therese your vocation is to be a Carmelite Sister.  But she would have replied Yes it is true but there is so much more.  I am confined to this convent yet my heart wants to embrace the whole world.  Eventually she found the answer to her question.  My vocation is to love, but to love as Jesus loves.  How does Jesus love?  For Jesus' love was not simply feeling good about the people around him.  Feelings change.  I may feel good about a person at this moment, yet in a few hours time that person might drive me up the wall.  What do I do when I do not feel good about a person?  Stop loving?  Unfortunately this is the type of love that is presented on TV, in many books that we read and in newspapers.  It is always conditional.  I love you as long as you look good or I love you as long as we agree and so on.

Christian love is totally different.  It is a decision that we make.  It is an act of the will and a decision that comes from the depth of our being because of our faith.  Moreover it is a decision that is made forever.  This is how Jesus loves.  This is the reason why as priests we make a promise to be faithful to our priestly ministry that endures for our lifetime.  This is also the reason why Christian marriage is a decision that has lifetime repercussions.  Moreover this decision that lasts a lifetime extends to everyone.  We are invited to decide to love forever everyone that we come in contact with.  This includes especially those whom we do not like, those who irritate and annoy us, those who make us feel uncomfortable and those who can be classified as our enemies.  Jesus was very precise in this area.  In the gospel of Luke 6:27-28 we have Jesus saying, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who ill treat you".  In plain English Jesus is inviting you and me to decide to love our enemies, to do good to them and to speak well of them.  The word to bless comes from the Latin word "Benedicere" which means to speak well about somebody.

All of this ties up with what we are celebrating today: Fathers Day.  How vital and crucial it is for fathers to decide to love as fathers and as husbands.  Some time back I read a book entitled "Fatherless America".  According to the author fifty per cent of the children in the United States when they go home, they do not find their natural father.  The same situation is increasing in our own country.  One can only imagine the price that we as a society have to pay as these children grow up without the support and the frequent presence of their father.  One can only surmise the emotional and psychological problems that will hit us as a society when these children grow up without the necessary mentoring from their fathers.

This problem also has repercussions in the religious field.  One of the most important prayers that we have as believers in Jesus Christ is the "Our Father".  Jesus is telling us that God loves us in the same way that a father loves his children.  How can we understand that God loves us as a father, if our natural father is never at home, is an alcoholic, always beats us and our mother, has abandoned the family or spends all his money on gambling.  We get an idea of who God is by observing what our natural fathers do, through the relationship that they have with us.  Many have such a false image of our God because of the adverse relationship that they have had or still have with their natural fathers.  Fathers you have an awesome call.  You have been gifted with the best thing that God can create, your children.  Love them, take care of them, guide them and with your spouse provide a secure and loving atmosphere where we can all grow fully appreciating how unique and important we are as created by God.

Father's Day Blessing

Loving God, whom we also call Father, we pray for our own Fathers and all those who are father figures to us.  We thank you for their wisdom and care for us.  We bless you for their strength and patience.  Bless them with peace and joy as we honour them all the days of their life.  May they, like the men in the scriptures and Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, be just and true.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen

God bless.

Bishop Joe Grech