‘Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.’ Jesus gave us a wonderful gift: he brought God into the
center of our lives and taught us that he is like a loving father. Today is Fathers
Day. It is a good time to remember that each and every one of us —
male and female alike — is called to mirror the fatherhood of God.
It
is a great joy for me as a deacon to baptize a child. The joy of
administering the sacrament is magnified for me by the fact that I am a father
myself. Wanda and I have been blessed to raise four wonderful children; and I know — first
hand — the joys and responsibilities of being a parent.
The
greatest responsibility of a parental father is to mirror the unconditional
love of our heavenly Father. Fathers have been given a very special mission in life: We are called to
teach our children that God is unconditional love.
And
we carry out this mission, we teach that lesson, not with books, not even necessarily with words; we teach it by loving
our children, unconditionally, without strings, no matter what.
God
loves us in a personal and unconditional way. The seed of that love is inside of each of us. And that seed is
watered to grow into a beautiful flower by the love we receive from our parents.
But
that flower can still grow even in the absence of parental love, even in the presence
of abuse, or abandonment, or neglect. That flower can still grow even in the harshest conditions; because that seed is
innately watered by God’s grace.
That
flower blooms in our lives when we make the transition from receiver to giver. When we say ‘yes’ to
the presence of God’s love in our life, and when we choose to share that love with others.
I
have known people who have suffered greatly because they did not experience the
love of a parental father. But I believe we have a choice: we can spend decades in
depression over what we missed as a child, or we can
cross over the bridge, make the transition from receiver to giver and become a
father for others.
We
can become a father for others not only in a parental way. We can be a father
to our children, but we can also be a father to our workers, our students, our
patients, our clients, our parishioners, our friends, to all those with whom we
interact.
This
type of father is neither male nor female; it is the bearer of unconditional love, it is the mirror of our heavenly Father.
God's
love comes alive in our world when we let it flow through us to others. So this Fathers Day
let us thank our heavenly Father for our blessings. Let us reach out to
our parental fathers, living and deceased, with love and compassion, and if
need be, forgiveness. And let us make Our Father who art in heaven visible here
on earth through the love that we share with others.
………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers of this blog might enjoy these
books by Deacon Lex. Both are available on Amazon.com:
Just to Follow My Friend:
Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday Life
The Gospel of You, The Gospel
of Me: Making Christ Present in Everyday Life
Synchronicity as the Work of
the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry
http://www.amazon.com/Synchronicity-Work-Holy-Spirit-Spiritual/dp/1463518781/
