Jesus calls God "Father" for a very unique and special reason.  The reason has a distinct character and feature - like the distinct difference between that of a contract and a covenant.  This all stems forth from today's first scripture reading from the Book of Exodus, when God tells Moses that if the people of Israel "will obey My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My own possession among all peoples."

Topics Presented 

	Why use "God the Father" instead of "God the Mother" as some people do?
	Why did Jesus call God "Father" so often?
	Didn't St. Thomas Aquinas state that you can’t apply gender to God?
	What is so unique and/or special when a man adopts a child?
	The difference between a contact and a covenant.

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	1st Reading
	Psalm
	2nd Reading
	Gospel
	Written Transcript of Homily
	Footnotes

Happy Father's Day to those to whom it applies.

Today we had a wonderful example of the true meaning of fatherhood with a sudden down pour.

Dad drops the wife and kids off at the carport and tromps into church in the rain.

That sort of... father’s always get rained on.

But, the scriptures says it rains on the just and the unjust, so...

But, Happy Father’s Day.

I’m thinking about Father’s Day a little bit...

My last assignment was at St. Thomas.

When I got there, I think it was 1986, the place was run by some very, very committed feminists.

Now this probably won’t mean a lot to you, but boy, I sure remember my reception there...

They weren’t real happy because I called God “Father.”

And, of course, they didn’t use the word “Father” referring to God.

The fact is, I was not welcomed to say the main Mass in the parish for three years.

“Well you’re the pastor” well... yeah...

I’m the pastor, but politics is the art of the possible.

They had their own priest.

And my immediate superior was pretty impressed with these people who wouldn’t call God “Father”.

They would call God “father-mother” or sometimes “creator” or sometimes just “mother” ...

And the funny part was --- they would always use the feminine...

I’m not making this up!

They would always use the feminine pronoun when referring back to Christ or to God...

Such as “Jesus and Her disciples.”

They were really.. really gung-ho...

And it was always kind of funny, when they got to the text about the devil and her angels...

They’d quick change it to the devil and his angels.

But it brought up a good question.

We eventually after a few years began to negotiate...

And I had to think why I called God “Father.”

And I think it’s a pretty good thing to think about, even if we don’t think about it.

Because we live in a society that has what I believe is a false feminism.

I don’t think there has ever been a feminist movement.

There’s been a masculinest movement...

That what men do is good...

So --- women should do it...

As... corporate president, and lawyer, and high powered this, that or the other thing.

Whereas...

Women --- have you ever gotten this...

You’re only a housewife...

No --- I’m a mother.

I remember when I worked at a Children's Hospital as a Chaplain, in my internship...

There was a woman who admitted...

When she got to that line about occupation, she filled out “mother.”

But you get that.

You’re only a wife and mother.

Well, ‘only a wife and mother’ ? ? ?

No... women have to know everything.

Whereas men --- we have to go out and hunt the woolly mammoth.

We have to be very good at that, so...

Sometimes we get a little vexed when women expect us also to be good at other things...

Other than hunting the woolly mammoth....

Like talking...

That’s not our strong suit..

But, I digress...

Well, why is it we call God "Father?"

Well, because, Jesus called God "Father."

Okay, well...

Why did Jesus call God "Father?"

Some people say He’s the man of His times...

He was completely incarnated...

Therefore, He was just going with the flow of His times.

Well this is Jesus who said:

“No more circumcision... "

"No more Saturday worship..."

"No more temple observance..."

"No more dietary law...”

But --- I don’t want to offend anyone and call God “Father.”

Jesus lived in a world where people were very comfortable calling God “mother” ...

There were "mother goddesses" just down the street...

He lived down the street from Greek speaking cities...

Where they had temple "mother goddesses" that were run by priestesses.

Jesus did what He did because it was His experience...

He experienced God as His Father.

More uniquely than any other human being...

He was the only begotten Son of God.

And why is that?

Because, of course, St. Thomas Aquinas and the catechism make clear...

That strictly speaking --- you can’t apply gender to God.

Gender is just something we human beings use to sort things out.

So, why did Jesus call God "Father?"

Very simple.

Motherhood is necessary.

You always know who your mother is.

There’s very little doubt, she was there at the time.

You know, no one questions like “well, we don’t really think she’s really his mother.”

That never comes up.

It’s quite obvious who your mother is.

And then if you do it the traditional way, that kid is an appendage to you for the next couple of years.

Women become walking refrigerators.

Excuse my being a little bit blunt at eight in the morning.

If you do it the traditional way, motherhood is a bond that has just gotta happen.

Fatherhood on the other hand --- fatherhood is always adoptive.

It’s always adoptive.

You always choose to be a father.

There are a lot of people who are genetically someone’s father who do not father them.

Who do not act as father.

They abandon their children.

And sometimes they may live in the same house and have abandoned their children.

In the ancient world, in the Greco-Roman world, when a child was born...

That child was brought before its Roman father and placed on the floor.

And if he acknowledged that child as his own, he would pick up the child.

If not, the child would literally be thrown out.

Literally.

They would be put, if it was in the country, they'd be exposed...

In other words, be put out in the bushes.

Or if they were in the city, they would be put out in the local market square - the forum.

Where slavers would come and pick up the best....

Especially the young girls to raise as slaves and prostitutes.

And the others would just be left to die and thrown out with the garbage.

That’s really what they did.

There may have been, no question, as to the genetic parent of that child.

But if his father did not pick him up, he was not that man’s son or daughter.

And even if everyone knew this was not genetically his child...

If he picked that child up --- he had all the obligations of fatherhood.

Adoption was very respected in the ancient Roman world.

As it should be everywhere.

People... I think I’ve shared this...

People say “I’m looking for my real parents”

and I say “Oh I know where your parents live.”

And they get all excited and I tell them their address.

Your parents are the ones who raised you.

Not the ones who genetically provided for you.

They’re the ones that raise you and provide teaching and sustenance.

So...

Adoption in the ancient world is very respected.

The point is --- fatherhood is always a kind of adoption.

Therefore, Jesus called God "Father" because Father, the Father, always chooses us.

And that’s the important point.

That the father chooses us.

Whether we wanna be chosen or not sometimes --- he chooses us.

And motherhood is always necessary.

When you think, for instance, Manuel Noriega when the U.S. marines were chasing him...

Where did he go?

He had been a devout spiritus and dabbled in Buddhism...

He had renounced his Catholic faith...

But when he was in trouble, he went right to the Vatican embassy.

Erich Honecker, who was a dictator of East Germany.....

Who had vowed to eradicate Christianity from East Germany in the communist times...

Well, when he was out a job, after the Berlin wall fell and he was dying of kidney cancer...

He went and lived with a Protestant pastor and his wife...

And they took him in.

So.....

Mother always has to take you in.

Whereas father always has to choose you.

That is why Jesus called God "Father."

Because God chooses us.

The Church is a mother.

The mystery of the feminine in God is wrapped up in the Church.

That God has created a bride for His Son.

And she is a mother.

That means we as a Church have a responsibility to be a good mother.

Which is quite a stretch for some of us here.

I’m not much of a mother.

But as a Church, we have a mystery of fatherhood and motherhood.

And we need to understand them both.

So that’s why Jesus called God “Father.”

Well, what does that have to do with the readings today?

Because, after all, Father Day’s is not a feast on the calendar of the Catholic Church.

Let’s look --- briefly I hope...

I hope that will be my Father’s Day gift to you --- a slightly shorter sermon.

Lets look at the first reading...

While Israel was encamped in front of the mountain --- this is from the book of Exodus.

Moses went up to the mountain to God...

And the Lord called to him and said...

“Yes Lord, I”ll hurry” – no, that’s not what he said...

“Then the Lord called to him and said:

"Thus shall you say to the House of Jacob..."

"Tell the Israelites you have seen for yourself how I have treated the Egyptians..."

"And how I bore you up on eagles’ wings..."

"And brought you here to Myself.”

"Therefore, if you listen to My voice, and keep My covenant...”

Doesn’t say My commandments --- My covenant.

What is a covenant?

I’ve shared this with you...

A contract is... "I give you... that you might give me."

A covenant is... "I give you myself... that you might give me yourself."

Prostitution is a contract.

Marriage is a covenant.

I give you myself, that you might give me yourself.

“So if you hear My voice and keep My covenant...”

That’s the important word here...

"... you shall be My special possession.”

“Dearer to Me than all other people, though all the earth is Mine..."

"You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests - a holy nation.”

A lot of us want to make a contract with God.

God, if you give me this, I will do etc. etc. etc.

Well, God’s not impressed.

He who owns, as the scripture say elsewhere, the cattle on a thousand hills.

There’s nothing I can do that God really needs.

He doesn’t want what I have.

He doesn’t want what I can do.

He wants who I am.

“If you hear My voice and keep My covenant, you shall be My special possession.”

This is an adoption.

Adoption is a covenant.

When you adopt a child, you get a year's probation...

And you go back to the judge, and he says:

"You really wanna do this?”

“Yes. your honor, we want to.”

This is God offering a covenant of adoption:

“You will be My special possession.”

“You shall be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

So, we talk about holiness.

At least we should.

This is what the Church is about.

It’s about creating holy people.

But what does holy mean?

We think of holiness as never making a mess of things.

Never doing anything that's wrong.

It’s really a pretty boring thing, pretty much, holiness.

But that isn’t what holiness is.

Holiness is belonging to God --- the way that you belong to one another.

And the way your children belong to you.

How do you belong to each other?

You know...

Have you ever been in a situation when...

You go to work and you bad mouth your spouse, be it husband or wife.

And you complain about your spouse...

And someone at work is like “Yeah, he’s really a jerk!”

Or “Yeah, she’s really an idiot!”

“You better not talk that way about my wife (my husband)."

"I can --- but you can’t.”

We get a little defensive, you know.

We yell at our kids and criticize them.

But wait until the neighbor lady starts to criticize our kids, right?

Those are mine to criticize, not yours.

“You will be My special possession..."

"Dearer to Me than all other people, though all the earth is Mine."

"You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.”

To realize that in your life God has chosen you to be his own!

That’s what holiness is.

Most of us think of our religious obligations...

Very good thing --- don’t want you to stop.

We think, of well, “I should be doing this, I shouldn’t be doing that.”

And that’s holiness.

That isn’t holiness.

Holiness is to say:

“I belong uniquely to God, and He belongs uniquely to me.”

That God becomes, I don’t know how to put it, the obsession of our life.

Because you see, you are the obsession of His.

Do you understand that?

You are God’s obsession.

God looked at the world and said:

“This one I want to baptize, and I want to raise as a Catholic, and this person is to be uniquely mine.”

And to say: “Yes, and I want, Lord, to be uniquely yours.”

That’s what holiness is.

Now, the Israelites messed up on this.

That’s why the tribe of Levi was made the priestly tribe.

You see the whole nation was meant to be priestly.

They were all meant to be priests --- all of the Israelites.

But, well... they forgot about God.

When Moses went back up the mountain, they made another God.

They decided to persue their own amusements.

They forgot that they were dear to God.

And so, Moses came down from the mountain and God struck the people.

But God --- He didn’t give up.

Because you see, when you were baptized, you were baptized priest, prophet and king.

You were anointed with holy oil --- priest, prophet and king.

He sent the Messiah to renew the offer of a universal priesthood.

I don’t mean a universal presbyterate --- that’s a sermon for another day.

But, all of you are called to be a sacrificial people.

And He renewed that offer.

So God always has Plan B.

When we get in the way of God’s Plan A, He’s got Plan B ready.

He’ll accomplish what He wants.

But understand that God’s obsession is you.

And holiness is when your obsession becomes God.

The beauty of God loving you, the beauty of God speaking in the world.

That’s what holiness is.

You know... God really is a Father.

Because sometimes communication is not so good.

You know, mothers... we men, we envy you.

You’re so good at communicating.

You can yell one minute and kiss the next.

And, oh gosh, when a kid gets hurt...

It’s rare when he runs to papa --- he runs to mama.

Because Dad will say: “Suck it up! Get a life.”

But Mom, “Oh, there there, let me kiss the booboo.”

I don’t know many men who say that, really they may try, but you know...

Sometimes.... men are hard to communicate with.

You know, if you see two old friends get together, they’ll sit there and look at the game.

I remember seeing a childhood friend, who was really my best friend...

Until we were about eight --- when he moved away.

We kind of touched base against when we were in our 40s.

He showed me his fish.

We sat there and stared at the aquarium.

Then, he’d show me his trucks.

I thought --- we could be doing this if we were six.

He’d show me his fish and his trucks.

You know, men, we’re not so good at talking.

Women --- you are.

And, sometimes it’s hard to communicate with Dad.

But he loves you.

You know who are, fathers --- you realize that.

You wish you could talk to your kids a little more.

But they’re not good at listening to you either.

And the tragedy is that they don’t understand frequently.

Now, this is not true of all fathers...

But in our weakness...

We fail to hear and to perceive the love our fathers have for us.

And this is true, I think, of God.

God loves us --- sometimes with a tough love.

And, well, we think He dosen't loves us.

But, He does.

Children, and all of us are children.....

You need to know that sometimes the difficulty comes from the fact.....

That your father really was crazy about you.

And fathers --- you need to admit...

That they’re not doing what you want them to do sometimes.

But you really are obsessed with your children.

And you love them.

To the point of distraction.

So it is with God, your Heavenly Father.

I heard someone once say:

When I was little - they told me that God was always watching me.

And it made me very nervous...

And then I grew up.

And I came to know the Lord.

And I realized that it was true...

God was always watching me.

He couldn’t keep His eyes off me.

He loved me.

And so... on this Father’s Day...

Understand that your Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to be holy.

That is... to return His love.

At least, in part, because you are the apple of His eye.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.