Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, godfathers, all of you play the role of father to a child. May God bless you today and always for what you have done and will do. Your job is not always easy, but it is vital to the lives of all children.

My dad was a powerful influence in my life, and while he has been gone for 30 years, he still has that influence on me every day. He always reminded me of Andy Griffith – when everyone around Andy was panicked and upset, Andy would always remain calm and focused and solved whatever crisis was in front of him. That was my dad.

That’s the message in our readings this week. Both the first reading and the Gospel remind us that when we worry, when we panic when we feel like things are out of control, then we have not trusted God to take care of us. The first reading is from the Book of Job and we have heard the stories of the great hardships that Job experienced – loss of family, property and wealth. In today’s reading, we see God responding to Job, like a patient father, reminding his child that everything will be okay.

God gives Job examples of all that God accomplished before Job was even alive, to remind Job and us that no problem, no crisis, is too big for God to handle. What God is saying to us is to trust Him, to have faith, even when things are difficult.

In the first reading, God uses the example of the power of the sea, which He controls, to remind Job and us to have faith. That ties in perfectly with today’s Gospel. The disciples are terrified, fearing for the very lives as their boat is being tossed about in the sea, while Jesus remains calm, peaceful, at rest. Jesus is Andy Griffith in the midst of the chaos. We see Jesus calmly stand up and still the raging storm, reminding us that whatever storms come into our lives, whatever chaos we face, Jesus can solve them for us, IF WE LET HIM.

That’s important for us to remember because each of us will at some time face storms. We don’t know when they will happen or what they will be, but they will happen. The readings today help remind us that we don’t have to face those storms alone. We simply need to turn the storm, whatever it is, over to Jesus.

That’s the message in the second reading today that the love of Christ is for all of humanity, to anyone who is willing to embrace that love. The gift is free if we but accept it and He will calm the raging storms in our lives. He will be the Andy Griffith in our life when we need him. We are blessed because of that. And today, on Father’s Day, I feel doubly blest because I have two Andy Griffith’s in my life.

Happy Father’s Day!
Deacon Randy