Happy Father's Day

What does Father's Day mean to you?

Although Father's Day is a 'commercial day', it can be an opportune time to give time and gratitude to our Fathers whether they be

• supernatural: God the Father.
• natural/stepfathers who are living.
• natural/stepfathers who may be deceased
• Spiritual- Our priests who look after our spiritual needs and whom we call 'Father'.

It is an opportune time to reflect on my relationship with my Father in Heaven- God the Father. We may wish to think about what God as Father means to me and what scripture tells us about God the Father. An excellent book which may assist us further develop my relationship with Father God is The Father Heart of God by Floyd McClung.

Then we may wish to spend some time today thinking about our natural/stepfathers who are living or deceased.  Sometimes, we may feel that we did not get a chance to have an ideal father relationship. Fathers are human and can and do make mistakes both big and small. 

Today is a day to think of both the positive and negative qualities of our fathers. Thank God for their good qualities since these reflect something of God the Father. When we think of the more human side of our fathers, let us try and be kindly and forgive the hurts we may have had. Our Fathers were doing their best. It may even be a time to let go of past resentments or unforgiveness for something that our father did to us.  When we reflect on this, let us be fair and open minded.

Today is also a day to remember our spiritual fathers- our priests.  They gave up the right to be a father to children of their own but chose to be a father to the children of God.  Let us reflect on what our spiritual father means to us- it may be our parish priest or a priest friend that we have or our spiritual director. Whoever it may be, pray for him on this day and if it is appropriate, perhaps send a card, give a gift or get a Mass offered for him. Let him know that you appreciate him being your 'spiritual father'.