By Msgr. Joseph Prior • Posted June 19, 2026

(See the readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

The television was on in the background as I was packing up some things. The words “thanks Dad” caught my attention and I started to watch the commercial. It showed a scene from a young boy’s life recalling how his father taught him something about life. The next scene showed the same boy, now a grown man, reflecting back on how his father’s loving instruction had helped him throughout life, which prompted him to say “thanks Dad.” The pattern repeated several times for men of different backgrounds and experiences but all offering the same appreciation, “thanks Dad.”

This Sunday is “Father’s Day” in the United States. It is a day we honor and thank our fathers for being “fathers.” Since a good father has always been part of his child’s life, it is easy to forget to say “thanks” or to recognize the appreciation of one who gives so much of himself for his children. So it is good to have this day as a reminder to be thankful and to express our gratitude.

A father’s love, as is a mother’s love, is rooted and reflected in God’s love for His people. Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Son, invites us to call God our Father as He does. The loving, life giving and sustaining relationship between Father and Son is shared for all eternity. It is this life of love that Jesus draws us into as He reveals the Father.

In the readings for Sunday’s liturgy, we get some insights into the Father’s love. The passage from the Gospel According to Matthew recalls one of Jesus’ instructions to the Twelve. In that message Jesus tells them: “Fear no one.” Fear usually entails the notion that someone or something could have power over us and cause us harm in one way or another. Jesus’ message is basically, no one is more powerful than the Father and the Father loves you. This being the case there is no need to fear anyone or anything. Jesus speaks of the intimacy of the Father’s knowledge and love: “Even the hairs on your head are counted” so “do not be afraid.”

The first reading recalls God’s loving concern for the poor and suffering. The words come from the prophet Jeremiah who suffers greatly as he proclaims the Lord’s word. He is abused. His life is threatened several times. He is imprisoned, ridiculed and ostracized at different times. Yet he never wavers in his faithfulness recognizing that He is loved by God who in the end will deliver him “like a mighty champion.”

The second reading from Romans reminds us of the power of Jesus’ sacrifice not only to restore what was lost through the sin of Adam but to gain for us a share in divine life. The Father’s love was so great that He was willing to sacrifice His Son so that we could all become sons and daughters. The Son’s love is so great that He willingly offers Himself in sacrifice. It is of this love that Paul will write a few chapters later:

“What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? … No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35-39).

The responsorial psalm directs our prayer to God. This particular psalm recalls those times of need where suffering is involved. In this sense it reflects the situation of Jeremiah in the first reading. In a broader sense the psalm reminds us to offer our prayers to God, to speak with Him. When Jesus introduces the disciples to prayer He will teach them to pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven ….” The prayer expresses our faith in God’s all-powerful love that supplies for all our needs.

Today we rightfully honor our fathers for their love that is expressed in sacrifice, kindness, instruction, counsel, companionship, concern, mercy and care. We thank them for their love and join with them in thanking our heavenly Father for His love which makes theirs possible, formidable and powerful.

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Msgr. Joseph Prior is pastor of Our Lady of Grace Parish in Penndel and a former professor of Sacred Scripture and rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Read more reflections by Msgr. Prior here.