Father’s Day – God our Father is the Perfect Father

by Bryon Bootman, EDGE Core Team Member and Adult Faith Formation Committee Lead

This coming Sunday is the twelfth Sunday in Ordinary time and a day when we celebrate our fathers. To all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day! Even if you aren’t a dad or if you don’t have a positive image of earthly fathers, please do read.

This year as Father’s Day approaches, I’ve been reflecting on my father as well as my vocation as a father. My dad was a father of four and I am a father of three. I can certainly call to mind blessings my father brought to my life – not that he was perfect. I think similarly about my vocation as a father. I’m sure I’ve been a blessing to my children, and I know very well that I am not perfect.

I thank God for the blessings from my dad, and in the imperfections of my father I find I can turn to God and ask for healing. Any time and for any reason that I can turn to God, it is a turn in the right direction. When it comes to myself as a father, I much more clearly see the imperfections I have, such as when it comes to being patient and available to my children. All I can do is ask God our Father for help in parenting and to bless my children. It is in blessings as well as imperfections that I understand, at least a little bit, how perfect God our Father is.

I read through the scriptures for this Sunday and I caught glimpses of God our Father. These short passages show that God our Father cares for us, He is generous, and He knows us deeply.

From the first reading it says “…he has rescued the life of the poor…”

The Psalm says “…bounteous is your kindness…”

In the second reading “…the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ overflow for the many…”

And from the Gospel, Jesus tells us that “Even all the hairs of your head are counted.”

God our Father is blessing all with even greater gifts than what we received from our fathers! The imperfections in myself and in my father highlight how perfect God is. Where I am lacking, God is abundant. Everything I want to be as a father, God our Father is. In the end, God our Father will provide.