A blessed Sunday to all! Jesus tells us today to pray for vocations. There are a lot of people to serve, a lot of things to do within the Church for the good of others, many parishes, many apostolates, and many different charisms, yet until now, there are crises in vocation. There are few people, compared to people to serve, who give their lives totally to God. Today, we celebrate Father’s Day in the Philippines. To be a good father means giving oneself to the family.

Those honored in their families are the ones who take responsibility for providing and taking good care of the family, no matter what their social status is. If some are poor, what matters more to the children is their fathers stick with their family no matter what problems come. Even if life is hard, good fathers do the best they can for a living first and foremost. At the sunset of their lives, if they cannot do this anymore, then it doesn’t mean that their lives are now meaningless. All the more that it is because of their lives being dedicated to family. Everything too is done by the grace of God.

We must pray for our spiritual fathers – the pope, bishops, and priests, and we must also pray for biological fathers around the world living or not living. Their task is to be a shepherd to us. A total giving of oneself, a sacrifice for others is not easy but this is what God did for us. We must also follow Him as an example and serve others in whatever way we can. We are called to respond to God’s call, in whatever state of life we are in.

Remember that we have a big mission from God out there. It is our task to discover it and to fulfill it by opening ourselves to the graces of God through prayer and the sacraments of Holy Mass and confession. Without expecting anything in return, we must serve with love knowing that it is God our Father in Heaven whom we serve, and what is due to us after is our everlasting reward in Heaven.

Amen. + 

Marga de Jesus | OLA Social Communications