By Rev. Glenn Jones

Dang … another fire. At the time of this writing, the El Cajete Fire is still going strong; hopefully it will be under control by the time you read this. As you know, one of the greatest tragedies of most wildfires is that they are so often caused simply by persons careless in watching and/or dousing campfires.

Perhaps it is because people in our modern culture have so little experience with open fires in general that keeps such things happening so frequently—the unintended consequences of neglect. Thus we see how little actions of responsibility can lead to the greatest of charities: no fire! There are fewer better examples of the “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” wisdom. With wildfire, that adage is a tremendous understatement.

On a happier note, a very happy Fathers’ Day to all you fathers out there! May God bless all of you as He has blessed and entrusted you with His most precious creations: your children—images of God, and each unique and unrepeatable. What a privilege is given you to be their fathers on earth … to protect, guide and shepherd them into the way of goodness, charity and peace. One can easily adapt the old traditional Guardian Angel prayer to fathers: “Dearest father, my guardian dear / To whom God’s love commits me here / Ever this day be at my side / To light and guard, to rule and guide.”

Below is a scripture from the book of Sirach that I like to quote every Fathers’ Day to help us remember how God has given parents an exalted status, reflecting His own eternal Fatherhood. A wonderful privilege … and yet a grave responsibility:

 ¹ Listen to me your father, O children; and act accordingly, that you may be kept in safety.

 ² For the Lord honored the father above the children, and he confirmed the right of the mother over her sons.

 ³ Whoever honors his father atones for sins,

 ⁴ and whoever glorifies his mother is like one who lays up treasure.

 ⁵ Whoever honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prays he will be heard.

 ⁶ Whoever glorifies his father will have long life, and whoever obeys the Lord will refresh his mother;

 ⁷ he will serve his parents as his masters.

 ⁸ Honor your father by word and deed, that a blessing from him may come upon you.

 ⁹ For a father’s blessing strengthens the houses of the children…

 ¹⁰ Do not glorify yourself by dishonoring your father, for your father’s dishonor is no glory to you.

 ¹¹ For a man’s glory comes from honoring his father, and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.

 ¹² O son, help your father in his old age, and do not grieve him as long as he lives;

 ¹³ even if he is lacking in understanding, show forbearance; in all your strength do not despise him.

 ¹⁴ For kindness to a father will not be forgotten, and against your sins it will be credited to you;

 ¹⁵ in the day of your affliction it will be remembered in your favor; as frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away.

Treasure your parents while you have them, for time passes so very quickly, and as we who are a bit older know all too well, “…the silver cord is snapped…the golden bowl is broken…and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:6-7) But the faithful Christian fears not, because his confidence and hope is in God’s grace and in the blessed and eternal life to come … and thus says with Shakespeare: “Of all wonders that I yet have heard / It seems to me most strange that men should fear / Seeing that death, a necessary end / Will come when it will come.” (Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2) After all, death is that inevitable portal through which we all must pass on our way to God.

So fathers … rejoice in your children, and have a wonderful and blessed Fathers’ Day. And to all: especially remember in your prayers those firefighting fathers (and all others) out there “on the line” sacrificing their Fathers’ Day—not reveling in the embraces of their children in air-conditioned comfort, but rather blackened, sweating, braving flames and enduring hardships … keeping us safe.