Father's Wednesday, 5/20/2020 Message

Today I will use two pictures, one of St. Paul at the Areopagus in Athens, Greece, the scene in today’s First Reading.  The second is the Monogram representing the Holy Name of Jesus, the IHS is an abbreviation for the first three letters of Jesus’ Name in Greek. 

This came to us from St. Bernadine of Siena, whose Memorial is celebrated today.  Our Catholic faith is about helping people to know, and enter into the life of The One True God.  In order to do this, we try to begin from a point that people are familiar with, and, they can relate to.  Jesus did this in what we call the Incarnation, He took upon Himself a body, like ours. St. Paul started this way in Greece, by noticing the Greeks affinity for statues dedicated to all of their gods, and, even one to an unknown god.  He used this to gradually move them from what they knew, to believe, but, not in false gods that do not really exist, but, to believe in Jesus Christ. 

St. Bernadine did this also in his time (1380-1444).  Various groups in society had monograms to identify their beliefs.  St. Bernadine, like St. Paul, saw this as way to move them to know Jesus.  We can learn from them, and, as this method is put into practice in so many areas of life, healthcare is one of them, where we are shown what to do to be physically healthy, so, in our efforts to lead people to Jesus, we start with what people know, and, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, show them that God can begin with where we are, and, gradually move us to where He wants us to be. 

God bless you,  
Fr. Robert