St Charles Church .org
This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on June 20, 2004
"Take up your cross daily and follow me"
IT SEEMS TO ME that Father's Day does not receive the same attention as Mothers' Day. In fact fathers often get a bad press. We hear about the absent father, who was not there during adolescence. There is the father as disciplinarian, "He will deal with you when he comes home!" Some complain about fathers who provided well for the family but with no smiles. They failed to nurture. There is the TV caricature of the father as the clue-less buffoon. Finally there is the abusive father.
Some say that the Irish with their patriarchal history preferred to talk to Mary when they prayed because of their fear of fathers. The Mother of God appeared more approachable, perpetual succor.
Frankly this has not been my experience. Johnny Creedon did not fit the stereotype. Who sat down first to eat? My mother. She was the queen. Next came the children. Taking up the rear was my father. And that was the way he wanted it. He believed in the kind of unselfish love the Gospel speaks of. When babies cried for their bottle at night, and we had many babies, it was my father who roused himself to the task. My mother seemed to have more spine than my father. We were more afraid of her. He was the teddy bear that people, especially children, wanted to cuddle.
When I celebrated my First Mass 36 years ago last week, I recall the words of the president of the seminary, who knew my family: "You know Gerry they will start calling you 'father.'" They did, and I found it odd to be addressed by people twice my age by that title. "Your father was not only a parent to his 14 children he was a household name in Inchigeela and West Cork. In many ways he was a father to an entire community. If you are half the father Johnny Creedon is, you will be a darn good priest!"
Jesus strove in his teaching to change the image of the Father. In Gospel passages such as today's he attempted to replace the punitive, judgmental experience of God with the ideal of self-giving love. If you lose or spend your self you will find yourself. Parents have a better idea than most of us about how to place others' interest before their own. He painted a new picture of God when he told the story of the Prodigal Son. Someone said it should be renamed the Prodigal Father. He was so free with his forgiveness. He gave us permission to use our intimate names for father in our conversation with His Father. "Abba, dad, daddy, da, pop, papa" are the words we can address to Our Father.
On this special day fathers who hold on to frightening masks are invited to
shed them. Conversion is always a possibility. Children, even aging children,
who cling to hurtful memories, are urged to shed this baggage. If a relationship
with a father cannot be retrieved, let's find a more loving father figure, a
grandfather, an uncle, a priest. For those who have been blessed by caring fathers
let us make our own the opening prayer;
"God ever close to us , we rejoice to call you Father."
In the words of the poet. "He fathers forth whose beauty is beyond fade, praise him."