What Makes Fathers

Some Reflections on Father's Day

Towards the end of the Mass, the priest invited all the fathers in the congregation to stand for special prayers and blessing. Today is Father's Day.

Everybody cheerfully greeted the men "Happy Father's Day" as they tarried on their way out of the church with their families. A parishioner who I knew is still a bachelor greeted me and I said, "Thank you. When you get married and have children, I can also greet you "Happy Father's Day." He replied, “As of now I have no plans (of getting married) yet. I am still busy helping some children who no longer have their fathers with them, or whose fathers are incapable of providing for them. "In that case,” I said, "Happy Father's Day to you. You are being a father to them, although they are not your biological children."

I think that when God created fathers, He gave them a special mission: to reveal His nature as Father just by following their natural instincts of being fathers to their children.

Fathers participate in God's power of creating new human life. They provide their offsprings sustenance and their needs with much sacrifice on their part. They guide their children, not only on how to relate to the world to prepare them for their adult life but also to relate to God and prepare them for eternal life.

Our human fathers love us so much that they are willing to give us whatever they have. As children of our human fathers, we are heirs to what they leave behind when they pass away. God, the Father, through His Son, made us His adopted children and heirs to heaven. Through the sacrifice of His Son, He opened the gates of heaven for us.

In our families, we know that our fathers readily forgive us when we fall short of their expectations. God the Father always forgives. Our fathers want us to forgive our brothers and sisters because we are all their children whom they love equally. We know how much our fathers grieve when their children are unwilling to forgive each other and alienate themselves from each other even for protracted periods.

It is said that children who grow up in households without a father, or where the father is not performing his role find it harder to form the concept of God as a loving Father Who takes care of His children’s needs, protects them from harm and evil, and longs to be united with them in his heavenly home.

We do love our fathers and we reverence and respect them. God is infinitely more lovable and we owe Him our utmost love and reverence. As we desire to please our fathers, we know we must do God's will in our lives. Our love for family makes us closely knit. Our love for God unites us closer to Him.

The human father's main job is to get his children to heaven, where God, our Father wants us all to be when this earthly life comes to an end!

Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, taught us the the "Our Father" and how to pray to Him, His "Abba" (Father).

From our experience with our human fathers, and from Jesus, Who came to reveal Him, we can more easily understand how God is Father to all of us.

May we as children of our fathers, give them due respect, love and gratitude. May we pray for them always.

Our fathers remind us of the Fatherhood of God.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers! #