As some of you know, the day this homily was meant to be delivered, Father's Day 2015, my wife Rowena's father, Generoso "Gene" Ritua, passed on from earthly life. Only a few short hours later, I served with Father Jim (whom I am so grateful to have in my life) at the 10 AM Mass and after he noticed me struggling with my grief, encouraged, well mandated, that I go home. So many thanks to Father Arnold for taking up the slack and giving his own homily at the 1:00 PM Mass where this homily was to have been given.
Homily - Sunday
June 21, 2015
Stormy Seas, Father's Day, Hands
Saint Charles Catholic Church, Imperial Beach / San Diego, CA
I
remember as a kid there would be times when I would be lying in bed convinced
there was a boogie-man in my closet. My Mom and Dad were in their room across
the hall, and I was so scared I couldn’t even muster the courage to call out to
them, for fear the boogie-man would come, running out of my closet and get my
little brother and I before my parents could even stop him.
I
remember one night, I mustered up the courage, jumped out of bed, and ran
passed my closet and made it to Mom and Dad’s bedroom. I remember Dad getting
up and taking me over to the closet, opening it up and making sure that I was
satisfied that there was no boogie-man in my closet. He gave me a hug of
reassurance that I was safe in his hands.As time went on I remembered that night, and how my dad was bigger than the boogie-man, and how he could protect me any time that I thought I might have an unwelcomed visitor lurking in my closet.
Now, imagine
how the Apostles felt, they weren’t facing some non-existent boogie-man in the
closet, they were out, as the evening drew long, presumably in the dark, crossing
the sea, likely far enough out that they were over their heads deep in water,
in waves big enough to come over the sides of their boat, nearly capsizing it. Scared
for their lives, and amazed that Jesus was sleeping through it all: sleeping
through the rocking from side to side and up and down; sleeping through the
noise of the waves crashing against the boat; the howling of the driving wind;
the creaking of the boat as it twisted in the waves, as well as the shouting I
imagine was going on from the boat’s occupants as they began to let panic set
in.
But
what stopped them from waking Jesus sooner? Maybe as professional fishermen,
having weathered other storms, they thought they could handle it on their own? or
perhaps they feared that there would be nothing Jesus could do and all hope
would be lost. But we know how the story ends, Jesus is awoken by the disciples,
turns back the wind, and tells the sea to be quiet. They were safe in His
hands.
There is another story about
hands I heard a couple of weeks ago, particularly our Dad’s hands, and since
today is Father’s Day I want to share it with you, it went something like this…
A
mechanic’s son goes to a job interview at a large printing company, after
satisfying the preliminary interviewer, he is brought to the director for a
final interview, at which time he is asked by the director if he received any scholarships
for his education, to which the young man said “No, my parents paid for my
education.”, ”What does your father do
for a living?”, “He is a mechanic and has a garage” the young man replied. The
director looked at the young man’s hands and noticed they were soft and smooth,
and asked the young man, “Have you ever worked at Dad’s garage?” to which the
young man said, “No, my parents always wanted me to study, and read more books,
and focus on my education. Besides, my father is a very good mechanic, and I
would only get in his way.”
The
director looked the young man in the eye and said, “I have one request for you:
When you go home today, go and wash the hands of your father and come back and
see me tomorrow.”
When
his father got home from work that night, he felt strange at the request of his
son, but with mixed feelings he allowed his son to wash his hands. First he
noticed his Dad’s hands were strong, rough, wrinkled, and callous from years of
turning wrenches. As he scrubbed away the remaining grease from his father’s hard
day of work, he uncovered scars, and bruises.
For the first time in the young
man’s life, he began to realize what it meant for this pair of hands of his
Father’s to work every day to be able to pay for his study. That the wounds
those hands had suffered over the years were the price that his father paid for
his education, his school activities, and his future.
After washing his father’s hands
the young man stood silent and began to tidy up his father’s workshop. After
the cleanup they sat and talked into the night.
The next day the young man went
back to the director’s office. The director asked him what he had learned the
night before.
He replied “I hadn’t realized until
last night how hard my father labored so that I could get a good education and
have a better life than he did. I realize now the pain, and suffering he
endured, for me and my siblings, and how he instilled in us the value of
helping each other. I also understand now that my father worked very hard with
his hands while at the garage, but worked equally hard to push his children to
be their best.”
The director said, "This is what I look
for in my people. I want to hire someone who can appreciate the help of others,
a person who knows the hardship of others, and a person who does not put money
as his only goal in life". “You are
hired.”
And so
it is with this story in mind that I encourage you to look to those you love
that have made sacrifices for you, especially your Fathers as we celebrate
Father’s day today and … if we still have the opportunity, perhaps even wash
their hands, or allow your children to wash yours. You may find scars, or you
may find that their hands are smooth. Don’t let that change your opinion of how
hard they work. I am sure if we were to look at Father’s hands, we would find
that they are smoother than those of a garage mechanic, but his hands still
make great sacrifices for us, as they clasp together in prayers for us, as they
are raised over us in forgiveness during confession, as they offer us
blessings, and they are the same consecrated hands that offer the Mass.
As we
reflect on those that love us, and have put their hands to use for our benefit
through sacrifice for us, let us also not forget the love of God the Father,
who, as part of the trinity, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary as Jesus Christ.
Let us take a moment to reflect on His hands. Imagine those hands, the pain
endured as the nails were driven through them. How they were present at the
crucifixion when Christ’s life was sacrificed so that we might have eternal
life in heaven.
Those hands, the hands of Christ, that
hold us up when we need strength, that are raised over the storms in our lives,
and bring calm, the hands of Christ that embrace us with compassion when we
need empathy, the hands that held up Jesus during his last breaths, the hands
that are part of the body of Christ which is the Church. The hands of Christ
which we have be called to emulate, through our sacrifices for others, with
love, compassion, and undeserved sacrifice.
So when we have boogie-men in our
closet or it feels like we are going to sink in the storms we call life, know
that our God is more powerful than the things we fear, can calm the storms we
think are unsurvivable, and can us bring eternal life by defeating death. We
can feel safe in those hands.
