7th Day of Simbang Gabi 2019

A famous actor often referred to a special day in his childhood when his father took him fishing. The day was fixed in his mind, and he often reflected upon many things his father had taught him in the course of their fishing experience together. After having heard of that particular excursion so often, it occurred to his cousin much later to check the diary that the actor’s father kept and determine what had been said about the fishing trip from the parental perspective. Turning to that date, the reader found only one sentence entered: “Gone fishing today with my son; A DAY WASTED.”

Being a father is different from being a mother. A father has a different approach to raise children than a mother does. A child learns from his father without his father knowing it. A father influences his child without him realizing it. He/she learns about what a man is from his/her father. He/she may either want to be like his/her father or to be his exact opposite.

In our Gospel (Matthew 1: 18-25), Joseph was told by an angel in his dream to take Mary as his wife and to father God’s only Son –Jesus. Although God could take care of His Son with all His power, He still chose Joseph to play the role of a foster father of Jesus. Why? Joseph was obedient to God. Jesus could learn from him through his example. As any child looks to his/her father to lay down the rules and enforce them, the former learns what it means to obey. But he/she sincerely learns to obey only when he/she sees his/her father as his/her model or idol. If not, then he/she obeys only because of fear.

Jesus, like His human father Joseph, grew up obeying His Father God. Philippians 2: 6-11 states, “Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.” Joseph, though human as he was, never failed God to be the father of Jesus as he passed on to Him what it takes to obey God.

We pray then that all fathers teach their children how to obey God by giving them examples. We pray then that all fathers find Joseph as their model in parenting their children. Amen.