The Good Father
Last spring, I attended daily mass at St Teresa of Avila in Silverlake and the first words the visiting priest proclaimed in his homily was “God is adorable!” Never did I hear God and adorable spoken in the same sentence! The priest went on to share about God’s yearning to be near us, to spend time with us, to attend to our needs, and to attune to our hearts. God wants nothing more than our attention, and simply so He could love us all the more. God is very adorable and adoring - in the way He wants to hold our hearts when they break, hold our hands when we’re scared, and hold us close when we cry out to Him - just as a baby cries for their mother. And the homily spoke to a very deep, very real, and very potent truth our little, vulnerable hearts need to hear: God is not described as God the Boss, God the Teacher, or God the Doctor. God is first, and always has been, God the Father. And a Good Father He is indeed.
And depending on our relationship with our human father, this can be a very easy or very difficult truth to believe. Whether we mean to or not, our schema of love and relationships can be influenced by what we witnessed at home growing up from our parents, the first real example of human love we experience. And God, as the ultimate relationship, is not exempt from that influence. And whether our earthly father was absent or unkind, or present and patient, let today’s readings give us hope that there is a merciful Heavenly Father who loves us - who shows wonderful signs, removes guilt, delights in charitable actions, heals our ills, redeems our destructive choices, and crowns us with kindness and compassion. And as beautifully displayed in the father’s reception of the prodigal son, God does not react to what we do. God responds deeply to what we need. He is listening to our hearts and wrestling with our wills. He is taking care of us, all the days of our lives.
God the Father, show us in clarity how to take care of us each and every day. Show us your good intentions and reveal Your Will for us, regardless of how much we wrestle with You. Thank you for loving us through and through, and welcoming us back Home. We love you. Amen.
Liz Tapang