Weatherbeaten (The Authentic Self)

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Homily for Fathers Day 2026

Everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything that is now hidden will be made clear.

One of the things that God does in His relationship with us is that, in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, He scrutinises the heart, the soul, and the loins, uncovering what is hidden within us and revealing what is truly there.

There are times when what God reveals to us about ourselves calls us to change, to try to improve certain areas of our lives. But the scrutiny of God also seeks to uncover what is authentic within us: who we truly are, who I truly am, in my authentic self, deep within my heart and my soul.

So often in life, I suppose, we live at the level of pretence. We put on a show. We put on an act. We feel the pressure to become what we are not. And what God is trying to do for all of us is, first of all, to say: “Do not be afraid of the scrutiny, and do not be afraid of what I will uncover, because what I uncover is your true self.”

We are called to the freedom of our true selves.

One of the things that is difficult in life is that there is often an expectation that we should be perfect. There is a demand that we be perfect fathers, perfect mothers, perfect in the way that we look, and perfect in so many other ways. There are all sorts of expectations surrounding perfection.

But that is not really what God is asking of us. He is calling us to be authentic.

I had an experience yesterday. I was walking in the garden at Pallotti House, and I found a statue of Our Lady, about that size, propped up against a wall. It was absolutely weather-beaten. The face was worn away, there were holes in it, and it was in a very, very poor state.

My instinct, with anything that is damaged, is to try to repair it or restore it. But I do not know how to restore damaged statues. So I did what I know best: I took a photograph of it and brought the photograph to ChatGPT. I asked ChatGPT to do certain things with the statue. I did not even say what the statue was.

Through that process, there emerged this beautiful image of Our Lady. I had asked for a white veil, a white cloak, and a pink dress, and she looked absolutely wonderful. I thought, “Isn’t this amazing?” I was astonished by what had emerged.

But the more I looked at it — and it was beautiful — the more I was drawn back to the original damaged statue of Our Lady.

I post these things on Facebook and Instagram, and one person said that she was more drawn to the damaged statue. I felt there was something authentic about that because the AI image is actually false. It is created; it is made up. Whereas the reality is the weather-beaten statue that stands in the garden.

And I think that is what God is saying to us.

On Father’s Day, I would like to say this especially to fathers: the expectation can be that you become an AI representation of yourself, that you hide away the damaged aspects of your life or the parts of yourself that have become weather-beaten.

But God would say that it is the weather-beaten father who is the most authentic.

I have noticed this with children. I see it with my nieces and nephews: they know the imperfections of their dads, but they love them. They do not judge them for their imperfections; they simply love their dad.

And in that sense, children reveal to us what God is trying to reveal: that you are loved, that you are treasured, that you are special — even in your weather-beaten state, even in your brokenness. There is something special about who you are.

So there is always encouragement in the Lord when we encounter ourselves in these ways.

I would like us now just to close our eyes. Whether you are a dad yourself, whether you have a dad, or whether your dad has left this world, just hold your father in your heart.

Close your eyes for a moment and hold your dad in your heart. Think about him. Treasure him. Love him for who he is, and pray for him.

I would like to read this prayer of St Paul. Listen to these words. This is a prayer now especially for our dads:

“This, then, is what I pray before the Father, from whom all fatherhood, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name. Out of His infinite glory, may He give you the power through His Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will, with all the saints, have the strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth, until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.”



Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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