I know of a local man who grew up without knowing his own father or grandfathers. In his youth, he had teachers and sports coaches who filled in some paternal gaps. Yet, none of those could truly fulfill the role of father for him.
“God became my father,” he says.
How often do most of us pause to consider what it means to call God “Father”? Was Jesus’ choice to call upon God as “Father” a reflection of his patrilineal culture, as some suggest? Why did Jesus teach us to pray to “Our Father...”?
We can begin by picturing the look of confusion on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s face in the Jerusalem Temple once Jesus, a young boy, was found three days after going missing...
“When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.’ And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them.” (Luke 2:48-50)
Diverse cultures have historically referred to a god as “Father,” reflecting their reliance upon, and origin in, a mysterious deity. This sort of fatherhood in the One, True God would have been part of Mary and Joseph’s Jewish upbringing.
However, “Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 240).
In other words: God’s Fatherhood reveals a personal closeness to Jesus as well as a closeness to each of us who seek God through Jesus. Jesus said,
“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).
Reading the Scriptures in this light, I surmise that Jesus introduced this relational closeness of God the Father to his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.
As an adult, Jesus revealed God as a close, caring Father to his disciples, when they prompted him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (cf. Luke 11).
We know that not all of Jesus’ followers—extending through history and to our present time—have experienced a healthy relationship with their own fathers. Even if we’ve had positive father figures, parents ultimately make mistakes. This is why most people can relate to having some sort of “father wound,” a reality which is significant precisely because of the role fathers hold in the life of a human person.
A father’s vocation involves helping a child develop personal values, a sense of stability, worth, and direction. Even in matrilineal cultures, fathers take on this role as a guardian.
“In many passages [of Scripture] God’s love is presented as the ‘masculine’ love of the bridegroom and father, but also sometimes as the ‘feminine’ love of a mother,” wrote St. John Paul II in the encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem.
Jesus’ introduction of God as “Abba”—closer to our own English “Dad/dy,” or Spanish, “Papa,” invites us to know a God with whom we are not only safe and valued, but also considered with personal closeness. No matter our situation, Jesus invites us to call God “Our Father,” not for ideological or patriarchal reasons; he introduces us to “Our Abba,” the God who cares for us and desires to heal our father wounds.
Saint Paul illustrated; “As proof that you are [his] children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” (Galatians 4:6). This is the great gift we receive in the Sacrament of Baptism.
As Catholics, we can begin each morning by praying to “Our Father” with attention and intention. Mindful of God’s closeness, we can speak freely to God throughout the day.
I recall Fr. Pat Martin, our recently deceased Pilgrim Center of Hope chaplain, told us that he wrote a letter to God each night which he began with, “Dear Daddy...”
At home, I often see a wooden plaque that a family member hand-carved with this Scriptural exhortation: “Cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Such a personal relationship with God the Father, enriched by the sacraments, is the greatest gift that any parent, godparent, or mentor can pass on to the next generation.
Originally written by Pilgrim Center of Hope for Today's Catholic newspaper.
Angela Sealana is the Communications & Media Coordinator for Pilgrim Center of Hope, having served at the apostolate since 2010. She also serves on the PCH Speaker Team.
Pilgrim Center of Hope provides events, experiences, and media; initiating a desire in people to encounter Jesus Christ in their daily journey of life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
