Trinity Sunday June 14-15, 2003 (B) -- "Of Fathers and Boy Scouts!"

(Trinity Sunday 2003 (B): This homily was given on June 14-15, 2003 at St. Pius X Parish, Westerly, R.I. by Deacon Francis Valliere [Read Deut 4:32-34, 39-40; Romans 8:14-17; and Matthew 28:16-20]

Of Fathers and Boy Scouts!

Across the country today we celebrate Father's Day, and so, from one father to another, I’d like to wish you all a very happy Father's Day. This weekend, we also celebrate Trinity Sunday. I don't see it as coincidental that both these celebrations fall on the same day. No, I see it as a God-incidence. For, who better to look to as a role model for fathers than our Heavenly Father, the Creator and Almighty God Himself, who has been perfectly revealed to us by His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

The Church has taught us that in this Blessed Trinity we have a Communion of Persons, a Society of the highest order, THE Family, so to speak, from which all human families take their origin. In fact, this truth is so basic, so innate to us as human beings that God has taught us, through His Word, to call Him "Our Father". Jesus elsewhere told us to call Him "ABBA" which in Aramaic means more affectionately "Daddy". Therefore, the Most Blessed Trinity is not only our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. He is truly the Loving Father of the entire human family, making all of us brothers and sisters.

As our Father, God created us in His own image. And because we are supposed to be "chips-off-the-old-block" so to speak, we should do our best to imitate him. But how do we imitate the ONE who is Perfect? Scripture tells us in the letter to the Hebrews that God "…spoke to us through a Son"… who is the "very IMPRINT of His being". And so when we look at Jesus, as He told St. Phillip, "…Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." This should logically lead us to the conclusion that if we imitate Jesus, then we will be imitating our Heavenly Father. Now I know men, because I know myself. And just because we think we think logically doesn’t mean we move and act in logical ways. Unfortunately, we all fall short of the perfection we are called to.

Nonetheless, the secret of imitating our Heavenly Father is to look to Jesus in the Blessed Trinity, as our prime example of how to act and behave and react as fathers and husbands. I’ll never forget the time – this was after my own personal conversion to the Lord -- that I had to deal with a serious moral issue as a supervisor. Some of the guys on the shop floor decided to publicly display pornographic material in their work areas. This obviously couldn’t be allowed for several reasons and I had no problem in letting the guys know. When I told them to ditch the material, one of them sarcastically said, "What are you, some kinda Boy Scout, or somethin’?"

I thought about that and just smiled. Why? Because I guess I really was a Boy Scout and that was a compliment to me. Now this may sound absurd to some, but I'm from the old school when it comes to morals. Besides, has modern man defined deviancy down to the point that living a virtuous life has become absurd?

Why do I bring all this up? When I was younger, the Boy Scouts taught me all about LIVING a virtuous life which is the FOUNDATION of being a GOOD father. And so in preparing for this homily, I decided to use some of the teachings of the Boy Scouts, which find their roots in Christianity and in imitation of Jesus Himself. I modified them ever so slightly to apply not only to we fathers; but to all men.

Now, the boy scouts have an oath. It goes something like this:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

This Scout Oath consists of three ideals just as the Trinity is of three Divine Persons. Those ideals are:

Duty to God and Country

Duty to Others

Duty to Self

As fathers, we have a threefold ideal as well. We have a duty to God, a duty to our families and duties to ourselves. Here is a modified Father’s Oath:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my family
and to obey God’s Law;
To help my family at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.

We live in a time when many men have fallen away from living a chaste life. That means for married men, a life in total fidelity to their wives. Divorce and adultery, my brothers, are at an all time high. It’s time to change that statistic.

The Boy Scouts also have a Scout Law that they profess to follow. It is not unlike God’s Law and in fact is based on God’s Natural Law. This law is based on living out and practicing the virtues. I won’t reiterate the Scout Law, but rather, will present to you a Father’s Law based on these same virtues. By practicing these virtues every day, we will be living out the life our Heavenly Father has called us to.

A father is: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

· Trustworthy. A Father’s honor is to be trusted. We expect our wives and children to trust us. So as fathers and brothers and uncles, we have to avoid lying and cheating. Truth must underlie all we say and do. Fidelity to our state in life, as well as chastity must be the hallmark of our honor. Our word is our bond.

· Loyal. He is loyal to all to whom loyalty is due; his wife, his children and grandchildren, his home and his parents and country.

· Helpful. He must be prepared at any time to save life, help injured persons, and share the home duties. He must do at least one Good Turn to somebody every day. And this charity begins at home.

· Friendly. He is a friend to all, INCLUDING his wife and children. He is also a brother to every other father. Fathers need help in living a virtuous life. This help best comes from other fathers who are friends.

· Courteous. He is polite to all, especially to his wife, children, elders, and the weak and helpless. A good father avoids losing his temper and restrains from hurtful dialog.

· Kind. He is respectful of his wife and children. He will avoid being spiteful, and will temper his authority.

· Obedient. He obeys his God’s commandments, he obeys his marriage vows, and he obeys all duly constituted authority. He sets this example for his children. Humility is at the heart of his obedience and respect for others flows from this humility.

· Cheerful. He smiles whenever he can. His obedience to authority should be prompt and cheery. He avoids shirking responsibilities and grumbling at hardships.

· Thrifty. He works faithfully, wastes nothing, and makes the best use of his opportunities. He saves money so that he may care for his family and be generous to those in need.

· Brave. He has the courage to face danger in spite of fear and to stand up for the right against the ill-coaxings of others or the jeers or threats of enemies, and defeat and failure does not dishearten him.

· Clean. He keeps clean in body and thought; stands for clean speech, clean sport, clean habits; and travels with a clean crowd. He avoids sexual depravities that are the ruination of family. He promotes good family values.

· Reverent. He is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion. He is a good example of holiness and piety to his family and friends. His first role in teaching his children is the passing on of the faith.

Besides these human virtues, as Christian fathers we are called to grow in faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit infused these virtues in our souls at Baptism. He also gave us the seven gifts of the Spirit at confirmation: Wisdom, Understanding, Fortitude, Knowledge, Good Counsel, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. We've been endowed, as well, with the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. He expects us to use all the gifts he has given us. And when we live our lives in the power of the Spirit we are also given the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

What a different world it would be if we fathers all followed these positive precepts. Can I get an Amen?

The Boy Scouts also have a slogan: Do a good turn daily.

We fathers should likewise have a slogan: Do good and avoid evil, daily.

And finally, the Boy Scouts have a motto: Be Prepared. Virtually every Scouting organization uses a variant of this motto (often translated as "Always Ready"). In latin; Semper Paratus

The Father’s Motto is as follows: Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus (Always Faithful, Always Ready)

What I've presented, my brothers, is the perfect ideal. We all fall short of that ideal because we are all sinners. However, we should take courage and keep hope that through God's grace we can be the best fathers possible if we only give goodness a chance. As we heard in our first reading, we are exhorted by Moses to keep God’s Law that we and our children may prosper. May the Father, Son and Holy Spirit guide us to the truth and help us remain faithful to His will, and to always be GOOD husbands and GOOD fathers.

Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus.