Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Taking two small children to church each week can sometimes feel like a chore – it is usually not fun and is often not even prayerful. But it is important. One of my greatest joys at church is when we get our boys, who are 3 and 1, focused enough on the mass to participate – to respond with great joy to the communal parts of the mass. Owen loves to exclaim, “Lord hear our prayer!” and Dominic loves to give peace to all the people around him. I especially love to hear Owen reciting the Our Father along with us and the whole congregation.
Owen, at 3, is a mini philosopher. He questions everything he sees and hears. He recites the Our Father but often has many questions about why we say the things we say. He asks, “Why do we call God Our Father?” and “how can God be a daddy to me and you and all the people in the church?” His childlike wonder often makes me revisit the truths of my faith.
One truth is that Jesus himself taught us to call God Abba and father. As Owen would ask, “But Why??” With Father’s day this weekend it seems an appropriate time to reflect on what God, the father, truly means.
An active, loving father is one who takes care of his young, provides for them, guides them, instructs them, disciplines them, forgives them, sacrifices for them and ultimately puts their needs before his own – doing whatever possible to provide for them. And in return, children will work to listen to and help their father.
This past week I went to help my dad who was having surgery. Once he came home, he had lifting restrictions and could not do all of the labor around his farm that he wanted to. But he could teach and instruct. He had jobs that needed to be done and we could do them. As my older brother said, “It was as if I was his hands and feet.” And I think this is a beautiful example of what God wants from us. He will lead us, and he will guide us. He simply needs us to hear his voice and to act as his hands and feet – to make the love of the father known.
Many people think that simply taking our kids to church is foolish. “What do they get out of it?” people will ask us. And I have to say – a lot. They get exposure to our sacred ritual of the mass, they get language to communicate about their God, they get to be part of a bigger community and they get to come and bask in the Father’s love.
If you hear and see my children acting a little wild at mass, please imagine they are saying to you, what St. Paul says in our first reading - “If only you would put up with a little foolishness from me! Please put up with me.” Thanks for always loving them.
Amen
- Amanda Grimm