Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 24, 2026 Column Father De Celles
HAPPY FATHER’S DAY. Today America celebrates Father’s Day, a day to thank and praise good Fathers who love, care for and make huge sacrifices for their families. Every child needs and has a God-given right to a loving father. Our very bodies and brains tell us this, as does all of human history: children are happiest and flourish in the home of a loving father and mother committed to each other in a loving marriage. And Scripture and Sacred Tradition teach this with absolute clarity.
But this is not what many in society are preaching today. The woke/Marxist movement, as well as many of their less radical fellow travelers, are trying to transform society for the worse, beginning with tearing down the traditional family.
They are wrong: we need to have stronger traditional families, of mom, dad and kids. And that means strengthening the roles of mothers and fathers. Without that our culture will crumble—and with it our country and the world.
I know that some families don’t have a dad, at least not regularly present, for a variety of sad reasons. And these families can survive and even flourish thanks to the grace of God and the dedication of self-sacrificing mothers, and perhaps grandparents or aunts and uncle. But that is not how God designed things to work. That is not how human beings are made. That is not the best way to raise a family. So we, as Catholics and Americans, must do our utmost to support and promote marriage, and motherhood and fatherhood.
Good Fathers. Of course, it’s not enough just to be a Father. We need good Fathers. And the first thing a good father should do is be a good husband, showing love, respect, honor and cooperation to/with his wife, his children’s mother. What a blessing for children to be raised by a devoted father partnered with their mother. Together a good father and mother teach their children how to love, serve and lead others: how to be good citizens, good workers, good friends, and good neighbors, and of course good brothers and sisters, good parents and good spouses.
A good father teaches his children, especially his sons, how to be good and holy men, how to be responsible, hardworking and creative, and both strong and caring, just and merciful, brave and compassionate. By the way he treats his wife a good father teaches his sons how to treat all women with respect and love, and how to be a good and faithful husband and father; and he teaches his daughters what to look for in a good husband.
Most especially, fathers, along with your wives, I urge you to take responsibility for the intellectual formation of your children. Nowadays this means you must be actively involved in protecting them from false educators, those who would use basic learning, even in math and literature/reading, to indoctrinate your children in their destructive ideologies. You must actively ensure that your children know the truth about history and economics. Especially teach them patriotism, to love and support our country, embracing its goodness and working with determination to correct its flaws.
Above all take charge of the religious and moral formation of your children. You take care of all their physical needs, why would you neglect their spiritual and moral life? Life is hard, but it’s impossible without God’s grace. And when their life on this earth is over, you want to be with them blissfully happy in heaven, and not wallowing in the pain in hell for eternity. So make it your first priority to bring them up in the devout practice of the Catholic faith—first and foremost by your good example.
Be a Man. So, fathers, do what God made you to do, and gives you the grace to do, and be a man! And be the very best father—and husband—you can be. And THANK YOU for doing your best at that!
And all you boys and men who are not yet fathers, think of all this. Think of the great gift and responsibility of being a father that may lie ahead of you, and prepare. And don’t do stupid things to ruin your chances to be the best father possible.
Again, thanks Dads for all you do for your families, and our society. God bless you.
American Semiquincentennial. That means the 250th anniversary of the founding of our country, which is coming up in two weeks on July 4th. So I encourage you all to take the next few weeks to prepare to celebrate as true Patriots!
Jesus tells us that the 2 greatest commandments are first, to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and second, to love your neighbor as yourself. St. Thomas Aquinas explains that our first neighbor is our parents (family), but after that our second neighbor, is our country, or our “patria” in Latin, and our fellow countrymen.
So that the 2nd great commandment applies first to parents and family and second to country and countryman. We see this specified, if you will, in the 4th commandment: “Honor your father and mother.” God gives you parents and family to love and care for you, and in return calls you to love and care for them—to “honor” them. And in the same way, God gives us our country and fellow countrymen to love and care for us, and so we in turn must love and care for our country and countrymen. This is the Christian virtue of Patriotism.
Note however, Patriotism isn’t the same as loving the government, but rather honoring the government and its just laws to the extent it/they are at the service of the people of the country. Nor does it mean ignoring our historical flaws. But just as with a family, we see those flaws in the light of love and in the context of great good our nation has done and strives for.
Patriotism also involves participation in the life of our nation. This includes everything from working diligently in school or at a job, to raising a good and healthy family, to paying taxes, to participating in the public square and voting.
Patriotism also means defending our country, not only in the military (thanks!) but also simply speaking out publicly to promote what you believe is genuinely good for our country.
And patriotism means truly striving for the good of each other through just laws and a sound economic system that allow each of us to provide for our own needs. But it also requires a safety net for those who truly cannot provide for themselves.
Finally, it includes honoring the symbols of our country. Of course this includes the American Flag, so I encourage you to fly the Flag. But it also includes things like Constitutional offices of our government, especially the Office that represents the unity of all Americans: the Office of President. Even when we disagree with his governing decisions, we should honor our president as President of the United States.
God bless America.
Oremus pro invicem, et patria nostra. Fr. De Celles