+JMJ
Dear Pilgrim of Hope,
On Father’s Day we will be hosting a Pilgrimage of Fathers to our Basilica Shrine. I cannot help but to think of the yearly pilgrimage of the Holy Family to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. This is recorded for us in Luke 2:41-52.
As was the Jewish custom, the head of the household was the leader of the pilgrimage, so we know that St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus, filled this important role.
So when we think of St. Joseph, we see father, family and faith. The three go hand in hand. It is these three elements that I pray will be rekindled on our pilgrimage this year.
One of my greatest joys is to see the fathers in the Narthex of our Basilica, Sunday by Sunday with their little ones. They walk with them, they hold their little hands, they place them in their arms and sometimes on their shoulders. And when I see that I say: “That is a father!” With their wives they have come to Mass – a weekly pilgrimage you might say. The family has come together to pray, and they will no doubt stay together.
But what I don’t see is what is going on in their hearts. Like Mary and Joseph when Jesus was lost in the Temple, there may be great anxiety, especially anxiety about the future. Anxiety can rob us of hope. But during this Jubilee Year we are praying for hope to be renewed, and we are reminded over and over that hope does not disappoint. And Jesus said to his parents: ‘Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ The Father’s House is a sure place to find hope, and this is where we would always want to see fathers with their families being strengthened in Faith, Hope and Love.
In Jesus and Mary,
Very Reverend Anthony Aarons, Missionary of Mercy
RECTOR
