16 June. YOUTH DAY AND FATHERS DAY. Sunday 11B.  Today’s fathers, and at times grandfathers, were the youth of 1976 who stood up for justice when their parents did not.  Today are those men still taking responsibility?  Research has shown that more than half of the children in our families are growing up without their own biological father present in their lives, although most often these men are alive, somewhere.  Is that not a sadness for the fathers as well as the children, as it has also been well researched that fathers are important and can play a positive role in their children’s growth as they pass through their teen years.  The sad reality is that we cannot just reverse this situation overnight and unite fathers and children because of many complicating factors.  But much can be done to prevent such situations in the future if men and boys, but also the women and girls act responsibly and if all of them are aware of the consequences of their actions.   God’s blessings to all.

Reflect, share, scripture: The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard seed which when sown is the smallest of all the seeds yet when it grows up it becomes the greatest of all shrubs.  Mark 4:26-34.   Pope Francis:  God sets the father in the family so that by the gifts of his masculinity he can be close to his wife and share everything, joy and sorrow, hope and hardship.  And to be close to his children as they grow, when they play and when they work, when they are carefree and when they are distressed.  When they are daring and when they are afraid, when they stray and when they get back on the right path. To be a father who is always present. It is not good for children to lack a father and to grow up before they are ready.AL 177.   ACTION AND PRAYER. Share and pray for our families, especially for fathers and the youth of our world, that their future will be secure.    

FATHERHOOD of GOD and MAN –   A TIME OF REFLECTION AND PRAYER

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that we might not die but have eternal life.”       John 3:16         

A father-wound.  Our present-day society can be said to be suffering from a father-wound.  We are suffering. Our children are suffering.  Fathers play an important role in family life and in society.

Children need male and female role models. Children need to see and experience a loving, committed relationship in their parents.  That is not always the case.

Sometimes fathers are absent. Sometimes fathers are not committed, even abusive.  Sometimes fathers are alienated, lost and don’t feel needed.

Our image of God and of fatherhood are related.   If our image of a father is hard, God could be seen as hard. Not only children, but every human being has a longing for a father, one on whom we can depend, one whom we can trust, who will affirm us and build us up.

As parents and as children of our own parents, maybe our memories are happy, or maybe they are painful.  We may need to heal our memories, forgive our fathers, become true fathers to our own children and future children, or support and encourage fathers to be there for their children.

God, our father, is our model of fatherhood, a loving, forgiving father who shows all human fathers the way.  One who loved all his children so passionately that he gave His own Son so that we, His children could have eternal life. The idea of God as Father is not a common Old Testament one but one brought to us by Jesus who called God, Abba – loving father, and shares his Father with us in giving us the prayer OUR FATHER.

REFLECT on your own experience of fatherhood, your own father, yourself as father, the fathers in your family.  Is it positive or negative?  Can or should something be done to make things better?  Bring your positive and negative thoughts to God, the Father and ask him for what you need. 

SING.   Abba, Abba,Father.  You are the potter, we are the clay,  the work of your hands. Father, may we be one in you, as he is in you and you are in him,  and you are in him. Glory, glory and praise to you, glory and praise to you, for ever, amen. For ever, amen.

PRAY THE PSALM  (Adapted from PSALM 144 )

Our Father is kind and full of compassion, Slow to anger, abounding in love. How good is Our Father to all, Compassionate to all his creatures.

Our Father is faithful in all his words And loving in all his deeds. Our Father supports all who fall And raises all who are bowed down.

Our Father is just in all his ways And loving in all his deeds. He is close to all  who call him, Who call on him from their hearts.

PRAY: May the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ be with the fathers in our family, may he inspire and strengthen all fathers and bless them with love, peace and joy. Amen.                       MARFAM 2024