Faith and Mission

Leo McInerney 

Assistant to the Principal - Faith and Mission

Thank you for the amazing work that you are doing caring, nurturing and being present to your daughters, our students at Marian College. This hasn’t been an easy task and I know that you have had to live through the ups and downs and celebrate the small wins whenever and wherever you can. My prayers and thoughts are there for you all.

One of the difficult times of course was not being able to celebrate Father’s Day in the usual manner. Joseph, the father of Jesus must have also gone through difficult times and situations.

We know so little about Joseph. 

He was there for Mary, when she was pregnant with Jesus. Loyal and steadfast. Non-judgemental. He stayed true to his word, despite a culture that would have demanded he act differently.  He was a guide and protector. We hear how he was there on the journey to Jerusalem, searching for accommodation, fleeing to Egypt in the face of danger, coming to reside in Nazareth, nurturing and caring for Jesus as a child.

We do read that Jesus was the carpenter’s son, known for his role within the community. (Matthew 13.55). ‍However biblical scholarship acknowledges that the term “carpenter” may have also had a stone mansion connatation because all of the homes and buildings in the area and time were made of stone.

Yet when Jesus came to teach his disciples about God, isn’t it amazing that the image from his experience that best approximated his understanding of God was the image of Father. So powerful was Jesus’ own experience of fatherhood, that he likened the love and care, the guidance and protection of a father to the way God in heaven loves and cares for, guides and protects, us all.  

He told stories of the unconditional love of a Father for his child: “While he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

Fatherhood for him represented hospitality and welcome, traits that Jesus made his own: “In my Father’s house there are many rooms… If you know me, you will know my Father also.” (John 14:2,6)

In his moment of greatest anguish, as they came to arrest him and put him to death, he cried out for his ‘daddy’ with unconditional trust and hope: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible.” (Mark 14.36)

And when his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, it was the image of Father that captured for Jesus the unconditional love, care and protection of the eternal and all powerful God: Our Father In Heaven May your name be held holy. Give us each day what we need to survive. Forgive us when we fail. And protect us in times of trial. Amen (Luke 11.2-4)

May all our fathers be blessed with love and peace, strength and courage, today and always.