Christ is in our midst brothers and sisters! Happy Father's Day to you all! Let us all give thanks to the Lord our God, the Holy Trinity, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Three in One, and the One in Three. Let us thank God, praise God, and worship God for all of his wonderful deeds, which includes Creation, Salvation, Truth, Grace, and his Love. Let us thank him, and keep remaining steadfast in his love. Let us imitate him as closely as we can, and let us deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus Christ, for indeed he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We find the way through Jesus, we have the Truth from Jesus, and we receive Life as a wonderful gift of God's mercy and love by the Son, Jesus Christ.

One of the most wonderful gifts that the Lord has given us is the wonderful gift of a good father. Think of it: without your father, you wouldn't be in the world at all. Without your father, you wouldn't be living under a roof. Without your father, you wouldn't have those wonderful family times, the warm water in the shower, the food on the table, the electricity that powers the device that you are reading this on. Without your father, you wouldn't even know what life is, what the earth looks like, or even who you are. Without your father, you would have never gotten to know your mother, your friends, your brothers and sisters, The Church, or your lover. Without your father, you would have never had that wonderful hobby, that cool skill, or those memories you cherish so much. So truly, your father is a gift from God, a wonderful gift from God that keeps giving. Don't forget this truth.

And so, go and love your dad. Show that you love your father, no matter how small the gesture is, or how big the deed is. As your father is the source of your life, along with your mother, so show to your father on this Father's Day that you love him. Tell him that you love him, show him that you love him, and show him even that you are willing to lay down your life for him. Think of it this way: if you want to be Holy for God, to partake in his divine nature, to have the Holy Spirit, to take part in God's Love and Life for eternity, to be delivered out of sin, to continually die to sin and become alive to God, you must start with something as simple as loving your dad. Honor your Father and your Mother. Show to your father how grateful you are for bringing you into this world, for bringing you into this life so you can at least have the chance to become a Lover of God. Your father has been very important for making your life possible, but not as important as God, so it is of one of the highest importances that you love your father and thank your father. 

A great example of a wonderful father that all fathers should take after is the example of Saint Joseph, the foster father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 
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The patron Saint of fathers everywhere, Saint Joseph is the definition of a wonderful and great father. Although not one word of Saint Joseph has been recorded in the Bible, he is still the landmark example of who a good father should be. Saint Joseph is believed to have been born in Bethlehem, from the lineage of King David. He of course later in his life was going to be married to Mary, who at the time of their betrothal was with The Child, because of the Holy Spirit. He was considering a quiet divorce, but after seeing an angel telling him to stay with Mary, he did without hesitation. So they were married, but had no relations. Saint Joseph stayed faithful to Mary, accepting his role as the foster father of the Son of God. When the Nativity took place, Joseph was there with Mary to bring Jesus into the world. When he heard of three Gentiles called the Magi wanting to bring Jesus gifts fit only for a king, Joseph welcomed their hospitality. When Saint Joseph heard that King Herod was going to commit a genocide on all babies under the age of two, Saint Joseph saw once again an angel, telling him to take the Holy Family to Egypt. Once again, Saint Joseph obeyed the message from God, and without delay set out for Egypt. This is known as the Flight to Egypt.

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By his Holy Obedience, Saint Joseph kept the Holy Family safe from Herod's reign of terror, and stayed in Egypt for a time in accordance with God. And so time went by, and then the angel appeared to Saint Joseph again, telling him to go back to Israel, for it was safe to go back. So Saint Joseph did. And once again, he was warned by the powers of heaven to not go into Judea, but instead settle into a little obscure town, called Nazareth. By his Holy Obedience, he played a role in fulfilling two prophecies of the prophesied Messiah, the promised savior of the world that God himself would be. 

Some time went by that by now, Jesus was 12 years old. As it was the custom for all faithful Jews, they all went up to the Holy City, Jerusalem, to celebrate the Passover Feast. When it was time to go home, the Holy Family packed up their things and started for the journey to Nazareth. But Jesus stayed behind to converse with the religious leaders. Saint Joseph and Mary, when they realized that they lost Jesus, immediately without hesitation went back to Jerusalem, looking and searching everywhere for The Son. Here, Joseph's care and love for The Son is explicitly shown. After three days of diligent but frantic searching, they found Jesus, embracing him and loving him once again.

It is believed that Saint Joseph died peacefully with his family before Jesus started his public ministry. Although the Biblical account of him is short, and we do not know much of Saint Joseph's life, this all what we need to know to copy Saint Joseph's example of humility, Holy Obedience, Chasity, virtue, and of course especially for this day, Fatherly Love. 

What we can learn from Saint Joseph's life are a few things: One, by practicing Holy Obedience to God, which is doing whatever he tells us to do, we become part of the great Salvation Plan that God created to deliver all of us out of sin and into communion with God. Two, by being righteous and upright for the purpose of loving God and becoming Holy for him, as Saint Joseph is described to be, we really do become intimate with God, close to God, and in communion with God, doing all things in accordance with God's great will and plan. Three, we can learn to protect our families from the evils of this world by relying on God. And finally, Four, by learning to trust in God no matter what, we end up doing more good for those around us than simply just trusting ourselves. Saint Joseph trusted God, obeyed God, and Loved God, and he turned out to be one of the most important figures in all of Christianity, one of the most inspiring Saints of the Church, and a model of righteousness and virtue for all men, especially fathers. And Saint Joseph was a carpenter from Nazareth. You don't get more obscure than that. It just goes to show that truly, God chose the humble of this world to accomplish his will, his all-Holy and all-Loving will to renew the world and bring as many people to union with himself, so that all may come to share in God's Love and Life for all eternity.

So yes, whenever you are struggling in this life, look back on the example of Saint Joseph, and being inspired by his example, go and bear much fruit of God, remaining in Christ, as he remains in you, as his words remain in you, and you remain in his Words. Stay in communion with the Holy Spirit, and remember to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and Love one Another as Christ sacrificially loved us, just as Saint Joseph did in his lifetime.

May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the Communion of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.

And happy Father's Day to all!