Our Ministries
19 Jun

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dad Jokes and Christmas in June

What’s Forest Gump’s password? 1forest1. What kind of egg did the evil chicken lay? A deviled egg. Why did the coach go to the bank? To get his quarter back. What do you call an illegally parked frog? Toad. Where do baby cats learn to swim? The kitty pool. How can you tell it’s a dogwood tree? From the bark.

My dad relishes telling cheesy jokes like these. Sometimes I can tell he has been waiting all day to tell me a new one, but then he forgets or stumbles over the punchline, a spectacle that oftentimes turns out to be funnier than the actual joke as he tries out several incorrect punchlines before finally remembering the right one.

Along with his sense of humor, my dad is humble and considers his Catholic faith to be an extremely important part of his life. Growing up, he always had my sister and I at church at least 20 minutes before Mass began to give us time to pray and go over the readings.

As we celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, I give thanks to God for my dad, my first teacher in faith, and I think about St. Joseph, Jesus’ foster father on earth. We do not know too much about St. Joseph from the Bible, but we do know that “he was a righteous man” (Matthew 1:19).

Pope Paul VI goes on to say, “The Gospel does not record a single word from him; his language is silence. It was his attention to the angelic voices which spoke in his sleep; it was that prompt and generous obedience which was demanded from him; it was manual labor, in the most modest and fatiguing of forms, which earned Jesus the reputation of being ‘the son of the carpenter’ (Matthew 13:55). There is nothing else known of him, and it might well be said that he lived an unknown life, the life of a simple artisan, with no sign of personal greatness.” (http://osjusa.org/st-joseph/magisterium/homily-on-the-feast-of-saint-joseph-27-march-1969/)

For such a seemingly unremarkable man, God trusted him with the unfathomable mission of protecting the Holy Family and, along with Mary, bringing Jesus up according to the law of the Lord, ensuring that “Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Luke 2:52). St. Joseph showed total commitment to God and to his family. Life for the Holy Family certainly was not easy, but St. Joseph remained humble and strong in his faith through all the burdens, risks, and responsibilities he faced.

It is fitting that Father’s Day this year comes on the heels of the feasts of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, tying together the members of the Holy Family. With the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, a prominent figure during the Advent season, later in the week on June 24, I cannot help but feel like the Church is providentially giving us a summer preview of Christmas. Our world can certainly use a little injection of that Christmas joy right about now.

Like Jeremiah in this Sunday’s 1st Reading, we may feel inundated with “the whisperings of many: Terror on every side!” The pandemic, racial injustices, and all manner of transgressions bombard us through the news every day. Jesus, however, reminds us many times in the Gospel, “Do not be afraid.”

This Father’s Day, let us remember that great mystery of our faith that we celebrate at Christmas: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). I offer a challenge this week: act like it is Christmas—not with the lights and the trees, but with a heart that is overflowing with joy knowing that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

Jesus instructs us in this Sunday’s Gospel to “speak in the light.” How will you acknowledge Jesus before others this week? St. Joseph offers a model for us. As Pope Paul VI reminds us, “he is the proof that in order to be good and genuine followers of Christ there is no need of ‘great things’; it is enough to have the common, simple, human virtues, but they need to be true and authentic.”

Happy Father’s Day!

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