Mirad cual amor nos ha dado el Padre

“Mirad cual amor nos ha dado el Padre al hacernos hijos de Dios. Para ser llamados hijos de Dios. Para ser llamados hijos de Dios.”

That’s the refrain from a favorite song here based on 1 John 3:1. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”

The third Sunday in June this year was not only the third Sunday after Trinity Sunday, but Father’s Day as well. So the appointed Gospel reading, the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) was particularly fitting. It offers a portrait of God as Father. The father in the parable is longsuffering and merciful; he grieves at the loss of his rebellious son, but rejoices in reconciliation with him. Likewise, our heavenly Father does not desire our condemnation, but restoration of a right relationship with Himself. We may pray to God as our Father, not only because He gave us the gift of life by means of our earthly parents, but also reclaims us in baptism as reconciled children through the atoning death of Jesus.Our earthly father is not the template for understanding God; rather, God is the model for understanding what a father should be. Our Lord commanded us to pray this way in the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."

Our earthly fathers are human beings—sinners, not perfect. Families and marriages often face many problems, so we may not have an ideal father figure, yet every father remains a gift from God to us. We should give thanks if we have a father figure in our lives, for this, too, is a gift from God. Paul tells us to honor our father and mother; it is the first commandment with a promise—that if we honor our parents, we will live a long life on this earth.

I also dealt with this theme in the opening devotion for our Father’s Day activity June 18 with Luz Maria´s afterschool tutoring students, before the games and gift-giving. As Scripture references I cited Matthew 7:7-12 and Ephesians 6:2-4. The students were invited to bring their fathers. Of those who attended, four brought their biological fathers and the rest brought their closest male relatives or their mothers. Of the biological fathers, only two were actually living with their children.

Lack of a strong paternal figure in the home is the source of many of Venezuela’s societal problems and a major challenge for our mission. Luz Maria and I began our educational project to try and help young people break the generational cycle of poverty in which many in the surrounding community have been trapped: The young women dropping out of school after sixth grade because of pregnancy before they are ready physically or emotionally to be mother and the young men drifting into alcohol and drug abuse and petty crime because of the lack of skills to find decent jobs. This situation has only gotten worse because of the political and economic problems that have gripped the country over the last 20 years and the availability of smartphones which make young people even more vulnerable to sex traffickers.And we have learned from experience that family formation is essential to church growth. That is, when believers marry, have children and bring raise the children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The book of Acts informs us that entire households being baptized was typical in the early church (Acts 16: 14-15; 23-32). Having only his mother and grandmother to teach him the Scriptures may have worked for Timothy (1:5), but most young people find it difficult to persevere in the faith without the support of an intact family.

Sociological studies show that fathers set the trajectory for their children's religious participation, a cross-cultural phenomenon observed in western Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East. A Swiss government study (conducted in the 1990s, published around 2000) established the baseline for western Europe: A child is much more likely to regularly attend church as an adult if the father attends regularly, compared to the mother’s influence alone. A smaller-scale US study found nearly identical results to the Swiss data, reinforcing that when only the father attends regularly, roughly 67% of children attend as adults, compared to a sharp drop when only the mother attends. A 2025 analysis of the Global Flourishing Study (covering 22 diverse countries) confirmed that father-child relations and early-life religious attendance are robust predictors of adult religious practice (prayer/meditation) across geographically and economically diverse nations. The study noted that while national contexts affect the strength of transmission, the link between early paternal involvement and adult faith is a "near universal aspect of religious socialization."

Therefore, we continue with our goals of involving both parents in Christian education as much as possible, encouraging home Bible study and prayer as well as regular public worship attendance, and teaching youth to look for a faithful spouse (in both senses of the term).

From celebration to tragedy

According to our historic church calendar, June 24 is the day to remember the birth of John the Baptist. It is six months before December 25, and Luke 1:36 says that John’s mother and Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was six months pregnant when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke than recounts how Mary went to visit Elizabeth and the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped in joy at the presence of the child in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:39-45, a powerful pro-life passage). Luke 1:56 says that Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months and then John the Baptist was born, which would imply he was born later in the fall. But the martyrdom of John the Baptist is celebrated on August 29, so perhaps the earlier date was chosen to avoid confusion.

At any rate, since the 18th Century in Venezuela, the Nativity of John the Baptist has been linked with popular festivals in areas where people of African descent are concentrated. This is because on that date, African slaves would be given a holiday. The traditional festivities include music and dancing that have little to do with the Biblical John the Baptist, and rites that are thinly disguised survivals of African tribal religions. These festivities are most closely associated with the states of Miranda, Vargas, Aragua, Carabobo, Guárico y Yaracuy. Except for Guárico, all of these states are located along the Caribbean coast.

The annual celebrations turned to tragedy at 6:04 p.m., June 24, 2026. Two major earthquakes, 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude respectively, occurred 39 seconds and five kilometers apart. Because the John the Baptist events are tourist attractions, there were even more people than usual gathered in areas that are among the most heavily populated in Venezuela. The epicenters of both earthquakes were in Veroes, a municipality of Yaracuy state. The two earthquakes caused widespread damage across north central and northwestern Venezuela, particularly in the metro areas La Guaira (Vargas state) and Caracas (Miranda state).

According to the American Geographical Society: “At least 1,450 people have died since last week’s devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela, with international rescue teams and local volunteers still digging through the rubble as part of frantic rescue efforts. Up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, according to initial estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The projections, based on the available population and damage analysis, include up to 2 million people in Caracas alone. There are currently over 70,000 people reported missing, over 3,150 people are injured, and 774 buildings have collapsed.”

La Caramuca is closer to the Colombian border than to Caracas in a country that has roughly the same surface area as Oklahoma and Texas combined or twice that of California. We were aware of the earthquakes, first of all because Luz Maria discovered, along with many other Venezuelans, that her Android cellphone has a earthquake alert feature. She received a text message just before the events. Some people with Android phones, including those in the affected areas, received the same messages, but others didn’t. Apparently it has to do with whether the phone has GPS activated or not. We also saw hanging objects sway without any wind, but there was no sensation of the earth moving under our feet (apologies to Carole King). There was not damage to persons or property in Barinas.

We thank God for the fact that, based on what we have heard, none of the scattered congregations of our national church, the Lutheran Church of Venezuela, were directly affected. There were reports of cracks in the walls of some church buildings, but these may have be pre-existing damage. Two of our largest congregations, Fuente de Vida (Fountain of Life) in Puerto Ordaz and Ascension in San Felix de Guayana, organized the collection of bottled water, foodstuffs and clothing to be sent to the affected areas. Members of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod may donate to earthquake relief efforts at this Web site (the Synod recommends not trying to directly ship supplies):

https://www.lcms.org/give/earthquake

On Sunday, June 28, I covered the "second table of the Law" in Luther's Large Catechism with members of Corpus Christi Lutheran Church in Barinas.