It is 17th June 2018. We celebrate the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. We celebrate the Father’s Day. Wishing all the father out there, a happy Father’s Day. May God bless you. No one can replace the charm, the grandeur, the sacrifice, the personality, the fun and frolic, the security, the safety, the warmth, the love, the guidance, the counsel, of a loving dad. Much less is spoken and celebrated the goodness and glory of being a father. The guiding hand, the timely admonition, the innumerable intervention, the untiring encouragement, being the unbroken fence to the family at large the qualities not so much shared in public domain. One person mostly yelled at, abused verbally, ignored systematically by the members of the family when he is physically around but so much painfully missed and idealised when he is not around anymore. The complaints are many while the compliments are so few or none. They are the unsung song, the unnoticed star, the unpraised person in our families. It is time to celebrate the life of our fathers who have gone out more than a million time to make us happy and contented. Most of the girls would vouch his love irreplaceable by any man on earth. For some of us, our dads are petty gods, heroes, captains, the greatest persons, the role models, the reliable, the funniest, the saint, the provider, the teacher, the anchor of our soul, and the source of inspiration. For some other, we have bitter experiences with our father. The mere presence of the father in our lives makes us to approach the issues of life with confidence and hope. Let us forgive them and pray for them whether they are old, sick or dead. The readings are from Ezekiel 17:22-24; the second reading is from 2 Corinthians 5:6-10; and the Gospel from Mark 4:26-34. Our future depends the way we are tendered by God. When God waters and provides our life, we have a protection and contentment all through our life. The first reading praises the fatherly providing and protecting quality of God. “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom.” (Ez.17:24) The growth and development is possible when there is cooperation and collaboration with God as Father. God desires to restore our dignity and growth constantly. The Catechism teaches us No.(CCC.306): “God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creature’s cooperation.” The responsorial Psalm praises, “Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.” (Ps.92:2). St. Paul inspires us telling that our growth comes by faith in the Lord by pleasing God in our body by the acts we perform by imitating Christ. We need to match our lives with that of Christ in sacrifice and faith. Our growth and maturity come by becoming another Christ in our day today living. Doing God’s will and cooperating with the plan of God not of our own. We can cheat and offer innumerable lies and excuses even hiding and running away from God for a while. Surely, we all have to face Christ as the Judge for what we have done in our body and soul. The Gospel affirms that the growth is mysterious, silent, and constant in an environment of prayer, cooperation, and collaboration with God. As long as we are open and willing to allow God to maintain and manure, our growth remains abundant. The priorities we set, the choices we make, the stand we take for the survival of our life is so vital for the growth and development. However tiny the priorities, the choices and the stand we take for God and with God, there is surety of growth. May the Lord bless us to have constant growth in our spiritual life. Have a good day.