Homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time: Father’s Day 2024
Readings: Deuteronomy 4:1-2;6-8; Psalm 15; James 1:17-18;21b-22;27; Mark 7:1-8;14-15;21-23
Having completed our five-week detour through the sixth chapter of John reflecting on Jesus as the bread of life, we return to Mark’s gospel accompanying Jesus on his public ministry. He is running into some resistance from Pharisees and scribes who have their own authoritative take on what makes for a good religious life. In today’s gospel, Jesus’ critics focus on his disciples who eat with unclean hands, which they take to be contrary to the tradition of the elders. Jesus retorts:
‘Nothing that goes into a person from outside can make her unclean; it is the things that come out of a person that make him unclean. For it is from within, from people’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.’
Listen at https://soundcloud.com/frank-brennan-6/homily-1924
In today’s second reading, James tells the people that it’s actions not words that count; it’s care for the poor and marginalised which tests our commitment to all the lofty ideals. James says: ‘You must do what the word tells you, and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves. Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.’
We are called to make a difference in the world without being contaminated by the world. We are called to get our hands dirty while keeping our hearts pure.
How is this to be done by us twenty-first-century Christians? What difference does our religious faith and practice make?
On this Father’s Day, we might reflect especially on how parents are to hand on the lessons of our religious life to our children.
A couple of American sociologists, Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk, have published a book Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation. They make the point that in the past our religious life and practice was ‘in essence a communal solidarity project’. You need think only of those institutions of a past generation – Catholic tennis clubs, Catholic men’s sodalities, the thriving Catholic Women’s League to name but a few. Nowadays our religious life and practice is more like ‘a personal identity accessory – which parallels the transformation of family from being institutional to companionate to individualistic.’[1]
These sociologists conclude: ‘Most religious parents do seem to understand that their children will pay more attention to what they do religiously than what they say. Contradictions and hypocrisy are not effective means of socialisation. However, strong evidence also shows that parents talking to their children about their religion, and not simply quietly role-modelling it for them, is a powerfully important practice. If there were only one practical take-away from our research, it would be this: parents need not only to “walk the walk” but also regularly to talk with their children about their walk, what it means, why it matters, why they care.’[2]
If you’re like me, you’ve probably had your fill of US politics at this stage and just wish that the presidential election could be over. But the avalanche of partisan carry-on will continue for some weeks to come. We who are not American, we who will not vote, whether our preference be for Harris or Trump or none of the above, can take some guidance from some of the extraordinary rhetoric that came out of the DNC in Chicago when it comes to making a difference in the world without being contaminated by the world, getting our hands dirty while keeping our hearts pure. Putting aside all the party politics and name-calling, there were some fine statements about how we might come to the help of orphans and widows when they need it, how we might keep our hearts pure while extending the helping hand to those in need and especially when it means getting our hands dirty in the nasty business of politics. Focusing on the role of parents, let me select just Michelle and Barack Obama.
Michelle Obama spoke of the familiar feeling of ‘the contagious power of hope’ ‘that has been buried too deep for far too long’. She spoke of: ‘The anticipation, the energy, the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division and hate that have consumed us and continue pursuing the unfinished promise, the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for.’
She was sounding universally existential and not just nationalistic or party political when she said: ‘Hope is making a comeback. But, to be honest, I am realising that, until recently, I have mourned the dimming of that hope. And maybe you’ve experienced the same feelings, that deep pit in my stomach, a palpable sense of dread about the future.’[3]
She spoke of her mother ‘who showed me the meaning of hard work and humility and decency, the woman who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my own voice.’ On this Father’s Day, let’s pray that all parents will help their children set their moral compass high and show them the power of their own voice.
Michelle Obama went on to say: ‘This is up to us, all of us, to be the solution that we seek. It’s up to all of us to be the antidote to the darkness and division. Look, I don’t care how you identify politically, whether you are Democrat, Republican, independent or none of the above. This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right. To stand up not just for our basic freedoms, but for decency and humanity. For basic respect, dignity and empathy. For the values at the very foundation of … democracy.’
She was followed by her husband Barack, described by her as ‘the love of my life’, who said: ‘Democracy isn’t just a bunch of abstract principles and dusty laws in some book somewhere. It’s the values we live by. It’s the way we treat each other, including those who don’t look like us or pray like us or see the world exactly like we do.’ He acknowledged: ‘To make progress on the things we care about, the things that really affect people’s lives, we need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices…After all, if a parent or grandparent occasionally says something that makes us cringe, we don’t automatically assume they’re bad people. We recognise that the world is moving fast, that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up. Our fellow citizens deserve the same grace we hope they’ll extend to us.’[4]
On this Father’s Day, let’s extend that grace to our own fathers, whether they be living or dead, present or absent. And fathers, wherever your children may be, and whatever your relationship with them, pledge to extend this grace of forgiveness and healing to each of them.
Let’s walk the walk, and not be afraid to talk the walk with our children. Let’s pray with the psalmist:
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
Lord, who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
The one who walks without fault;
The one who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from her heart;
the one who does not slander with his tongue.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
She who does no wrong to her brother,
who casts no slur on his neighbour,
who holds the godless in disdain,
but honours those who fear the Lord.
The just will live in the presence of the Lord.
From the start of 2024, Fr Frank Brennan SJ is serving as part of a Jesuit team of priests working within a new configuration of the Toowong, St Lucia and Indooroopilly parishes in the Archdiocese of Brisbane. Frank Brennan SJ is a former CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA). Fr Frank’s latest book is An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a Constitutional Bridge, Garratt Publishing, 2023 andhis new bookis ‘Lessons fromOur Failure to Build a Constitutional Bridge in the 2023 Referendum’ (Connor Court, 2024).
[1] Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk, Handing Down the Faith: how parents pass their religion on to the next generation, Oxford University Press, 2021, 91.
[2] Ibid, 225.
[3] See https://time.com/7013289/michelle-obama-2024-dnc-speech-full-transcript/
[4] See https://time.com/7013313/barack-obama-2024-dnc-speech-full-transcript/
