When I was a young boy I had a friend who was ambidextrous. When writing, he could take the pen and begin a sentence with one hand and finish the sentence with his other hand without telling the difference in his handwriting. I wanted to do the same so I started to write with my left hand. I would try and try but nothing seemed to work. My writing was illegible! I just could not get my left hand to obey my brain commands. I would teasingly complain to my left hand and say, “You are useless. You cannot even write a few words.”
Then one day I fractured the little finger on my left hand, and they splinted it. Only then did I realize how much I used my left hand. While it was not the dominant hand, it was very necessary for lots of things; simple things like carrying something became incredibly difficult. I really needed my left hand as much as my right hand. It became abundantly clear that every part of the body had its own function. It was then I realized the power of Jesus’ use of the human body as a metaphor for humanity connected as one.
This weekend we celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, and the emphasis is that we, the people, are the Church and the Body and Blood of Christ connects us all together. We are one body and while there may be some members of the body that are dominant like my right hand, the whole body has its function at different times. We need each other always.
In celebrating the Concert for Peace on Saturday night we are recognizing the great wounds caused upon our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. We stand with them and mourn their loss as our loss. We stand with them condemning these actions as a violence against all of humanity. They are part of our Body of Christ and we reach out to them in love. Please come and support us in loving our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in peace at the Concert at 7pm on Saturday night.
On Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day not only in the US but in most of the world. You have heard me speak of my relationship with my father many times and how important a person he was in my life. He was a man of simple faith. I do not mean that he was a simple man or that his faith was in God was in any way simplified. But rather that his faith in God was powerfully simple and a great guide to me my whole life. He always chose to accept the gifts of faith, hope and love from God and tried to live them in his own life. He did so magnificently but in simple and profound ways. He treated every one of his 12 children with equal love but differently and in different ways as they needed it. He was a profound model of being a man of hope and connecting the reality of faith in God and loving others as an expression of that faith.
On this Father’s Day, I want all fathers to know that we, your children, listen, watch and learn from you always. So many of our fathers work so hard and worry whether their actions and love are ever noticed. Let me reassure our fathers: your love and example are always noticed. It may take 40+ years for us to bring it to fruition but keep loving us and keep giving us powerful examples of faith, hope and love. I promise you that we are watching and learning. Be true to yourselves and know that the simple actions of faith and love are the most powerful of all. We love our dads and thank them for their faith and love. Happy Father’s Day.
God Bless
Fr. Brendan