Then we must learn to possess a heart of a true father…Who loves all his children…Who waits for them no matter what!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the gospel of St Luke…In it we hear just how merciful Our Lord is…How he loves the just and the unjust…Only hoping that the unjust turn from their ways…..“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy”…..In this parable we see into Jesus's heart…He has the heart of a father who loves all his children…Has hopes for all his children…..We must have a similar heart…The road to heaven may “twist” for some at times…Should we “throw stones” at such a person?…How do we properly address such a person? Would if “that person” was our own child? …There is only one answer…We love them and give a good example….I have learned (the hard way)…Facts, logic and arguments do not get people to love and serve God or become a practicing Catholic for that matter….Only a consistent witness and an open hand of friendship extended towards that individual who is “searching”….This is the only way….This is to have a heart of a father.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord”

For the last six years I have been involved in Catholic Social Media and in doing so I have spoken with some very interesting people…If you would permit me I want to share a short story about one of them…..Joseph Sciambra grew up in an Italian family outside of San Francisco…His family was well off and Joseph was very smart…Joseph however had a strained relationship with his father and that relationship manifested itself in many ways as he grew older…After he graduated from UC Berkeley , a very prestigious college located east of San Francisco, he began to live a gay lifestyle…As the years went on, this life grew darker and darker (his words not mine)…The whole time his relationship with his father was still strained…However, Joseph’s father loved him and prayed the Rosary for Joseph day in and day out…One day, Joseph had a medical emergency and when he was in the hospital, he had almost an epiphany, a divine encounter with God. From that moment he began to change his life……Why do I bring up this story…Because Joseph’s father could not help him…He could only pray for him and in God’s time Joseph responded to his father’s prayers….Why do I tell this story?……We can not “control people”…We all have free will…We all make mistakes…But God the father is waiting for us….Because he loves us and this is what love does, it endures all things, it bears all things, it never gives up, it remains until the end!……..This is the only way….This is to have a heart of a father.

“Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds. Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!”

Getting back to the Gospel today from Mass….The scholars of the law were critical of Jesus…..“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them”…..How easy we all can forget just weak we are!….If we did not have God’s grace, where would we all be!……To love God is to love everyone…Not just those who “think like us” or act like us….And if you believe that Jesus Christ is God and that Jesus founded the Catholic Church, which enables us to receive his body and blood, which sustains us on our journey to heaven…Then we must learn to possess a heart of a true father…Who loves all his children…Who waits for them no matter what!