My dear Holy Family family, the common thread today among the readings is that of storms. All of us are buffeted by storms, especially the storms of life. In these storms, we often cry out to God the Father, because He is our Heavenly Father who can relieve us of our anxiety and provide for us in our time of need.

Our heavenly Father is always there for us since He created us and loves us unconditionally. In an ideal world, our earthly fathers would be the same - always there for us. Of course, this is not always true, sometimes the reality in our families isn’t what we would hope. 

Let’s take Jesus as the epitome of a good father and re-examine today’s Gospel to see Jesus acting in a fatherly way.

First of all, Jesus says to his disciples "let us cross to the other side." Note that Jesus was leaving a crowd of people on the shore and traveling to another location on The Sea of Galilee. In other words, Jesus determined what was best for his disciples, the crowd on the shore, and those with him, and he led a small armada of boats across the Sea of Galilee. There was no need to consider a matrix of options, to make sure everyone was good with it, Jesus knew what to do and simply did the necessary without delay. He was acting here as the spiritual leader of his spiritual children. 

Jesus certainly knew the danger: The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level and surrounded by hills so it is very susceptible to frequent and violent storms. As the spiritual leader of his “family of followers,” Jesus had been teaching them all through His public ministry about the need to have faith in His heavenly Father. Jesus was their spiritual father, and He practiced the wisdom of Proverbs 22 - “train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” 

So even though he was on potentially dangerous seas, he felt free to fall asleep because he knew he had trained his disciples in the way they should go and they should not depart from it. But when the storm comes up what happens? The disciples revert to being like children, crying, terrified of the storm. Jesus rebukes the storm and then rebukes them, saying “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”

How could Jesus do this? What gave him the calmness, the inner strength, to fall asleep in a potentially perilous situation? The answer is…..prayer. Jesus could stay calm because He had already prepared Himself though prayer and prayer gave him peace of mind and courage. He knew that all human life on earth (especially His) ends all too quickly, but an eternity with His Father awaits all who conform their wills to Gods will through prayer.

The disciples suffered from lack of faith, the point of today’s Gospel. Faith springs from prayer which is hard. It is very hard. We are all called to be saints, but men in particular, the spiritual heads of our households, are called and equipped in a special way to lead the souls of our families to Heaven. Men are equipped by nature, by their masculinity, to do what is arduous. Male and female He created them….the male to protect, defend and be the spiritual head of the household in order that all souls in their families are raised and educated to reach their destination in Heaven.

Let me illustrate the power of prayer with the following story : The father knelt in the dark of night, deep in prayer. Sometimes his young son would wake up and witness his devotion. Such witness made a deep impression on the son. Who were this father and his son? A young Karol Woityla, - the future Pope St. John Paul II-and his father. 

Every father must realize his primary duty as father is to do everything in his power to see his wife and children get to heaven. He must be strong. He must be masculine. He must be fearless. He must be willing to sacrifice everything including his body through hard work, if that’s what it takes, for his family’s eternal life in heaven. There is nothing more important for a man or a father than this task.

To the boys, men, dads and granddads of my dear Holy Family family this Father’s Day weekend: we provide many opportunities at this parish to help boys become men and men to become good fathers and grow in faith. We have men's Bible studies, Knights of Columbus and many other opportunities to serve with other men who may have already weathered some of life’s storms and can help you be the man of father you are called to be. Men, you can be active in our parish community by being an Altar Server, a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, an Usher or a Greeter. Use your talents on Buildings and Grounds. Make friends with another version of yourself and teach them what you already know, or take under your wing and give them what your father or other men gave you. At the moment of your death, at your exit interview, I hope Jesus tells you it was because of your hard work on earth that many souls were saved.

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Let us bow our heads in prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gifts of our natural fathers as well as the example given to us by your Son Jesus who was willing to do the most arduous task of all, carrying the cross with all our sins all the way to Golgatha without complaint or reserve. Please help us to be like Jesus in prayer as we know prayer is the source of spiritual strength. Please help us to see church as not just an obligation but an opportunity. Help us to understand our children are watching and we need to instill in them a solid place to drop anchor when the storms of life become treacherous. In your name we pray, amen.