Sowing the Seed

Today's Gospel provides a fitting image for our reflection on Father's Day: sowing the seed that somehow grows, for example into a large plant, like the mustard tree. Fathers and mothers from the earliest days patiently "cultivate" their offspring with the hope that their loving care will yield future adults with the faith and values they tried to pass on to them.  It's a formidable task, and a hope that carries many ups and downs, joys and disappointments, but there is, perhaps, no greater satisfaction than  seeing young men or young women who indeed reflect all they were taught and learned through their experience to become the realization of that hope and effort.  As we honor fathers today, let us both thank and pray for them for being faithful to their call as fathers.  St. Joseph, thank you for modeling a fatherhood of faith and conformity to God's will, of patience and willingness to sacrifice for the good of the family.
Bro Rene