Today marks the end of our liturgical year and next week we begin anew as we celebrate the season of Advent…a time of expectant joy. We do not usually think of Jesus as a father, but that is what Isaiah called Him (Is.9:6). Through His incarnation Jesus perfectly reveals the Father. It is He who said, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (Jn.14:9). Jesus is a father to us in the sense that He shepherds and protects us, “I am the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep” (Jn.10:11). In laying down His life, Jesus acted as a father in that He gave us new life. As the new Adam, He is fathering a new race of persons created once more in the image and likeness of God. Jesus is the righteous and just one who makes holy all who believe in Him. Paul proclaimed, “For sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. As sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord.” (Romans 5:19;21).