That Fathering Feeling

Learning to imitate God the Father

02/08/2021

Mark 6:53-56 After making the crossing to the other side of the sea, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there. As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him. They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.

I love scrolling on Facebook and seeing family life on full display. What often catches my eye is how fathers and mothers teach their sons and daughters to be more like them. Pictures pop up of fathers and sons going deer hunting or fishing, or depict the domestic life of mothers and grandmothers teaching their daughters to cook their signature recipes, like feather bed rolls and coconut cream pie.

This kaleidoscope of family life can be captured by that phrase “like father, like son,” or “like parent, like child” (to be more inclusive). Even I get a taste of this “fathering feeling” with the army of associate pastors who have paraded through our parish over the years. Although, in the case of Fr. Daniel, he is teaching me a lot more than I am teaching him. I am convinced that this “fathering feeling” lies at the heart of all family life; indeed, it is its very heartbeat.

The scripture readings today from Genesis 1 and Mark 6 show that the Trinitarian Family life of God is no different. That is, there is an eternal “Fathering feeling” beating in the heart of God, where we also find hidden that truth “like God the Father, like God the Son.” Gen. 1 recounts the story of creation. In Gen. 1:2 we read: “The earth was a formless wasteland and darkness covered the abyss.” Unfortunately, that English translation obscures the two distinctive and decisive Hebrew words “tuhu” and “bohu,” which mean “formless” and “void” respectively. In other words, when God the Father creates in Genesis he overcomes a deep disorder and deformity (namely, nonexistence) and brings forth the beauty of creation.

Did you notice what Jesus was doing in the gospel of Mark? It was like another picture from Facebook: “like Father, like Son.” We read: “They scurried about the surrounding country and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard [Jesus] was.” In other words, Jesus’ healing ministry also overcomes a similar deep disorder and deformity in human beings, like what God the Father had overcome in creation as a whole. In every word and action, in each sigh and tear of our Savior, we find a “fathering feeling,” where God the Son copies God the Father. I love Jesus’ dramatic declaration in John 5:17, where he says: “My Father is at work until now, and I am at work.” Jesus asserts in no uncertain terms: my Father and I are one.

Let me point out two implications of today’s scriptures for you and me. First, the fathering feeling we experience in domestic life at home – hunting and fishing, baking and broiling – is only the beginning of the story. Christians are called not only to imitate our earthly fathers and mothers, but our heavenly Father. After all, we are Jesus’ little brothers and sisters, and God is also our Father by baptism. In other words, Facebook captures only a small part of the whole story; we might say it is only the “preface” of the book of our life. Our true life consists of “like Father, like son” but our true Father is divine. We, too, must be able to say like Jesus in Jn. 5:17, “My Father is at work until now, and I am at work.”

Second, the “tohu” and “bohu” we are called to overcome is the deep disorder and deformity caused by sin in our own lives. In other words, we, too, share in God’s work of creation, but our part is different from what God the Father and God the Son do. The little corner of creation we have to bring forth into beauty is our own soul. That new creation occurs every time we go to sacramental confession and the “formless” and “void” caused by sin is overcome. Every time we kneel in confession, we should whisper, “My Father is at work until now and I am at work.” You too will experience that “fathering feeling” in confession; indeed in all the sacraments.

You may know that I post these homilies on Facebook after I preach them at morning Mass. However, they are quickly buried under hundreds of pictures of fathers and sons hunting and fishing and mothers and daughters baking. And that is okay. If by chance someone should stop and read this homily, they might grasp the grace that is found in that "fathering feeling" where we teach our children to be a little more like us. And if you stop and listen very carefully, you will hear the heartbeat of God.

Praised be Jesus Christ!