A Father and His Children

Isabella loves to help mix the pancakes...
and Isabella's daddy loves his children.




We can learn a lot about our place in this world from our relationships with each other, especially in our families. Take, for example, this experience my daughter and I shared a couple of weeks ago:

I got up that morning, made coffee and checked my email. Then I pumped up the tires on the jogger, grabbed my Rosary, and Isabella and I went for a walk before the day became too unbearably hot. We stopped at the neighborhood elementary school to have some fun on the playground, and we found a purple basketball left there. “A soccer ball!” exclaimed Isabella.

“It’s a basketball,” I replied. “You bounce it,” and I gently bounced the ball over to her.

Isabella looked at me and smiled her adorable, joyful, mischievous three-year-old smile, and she said, “No, you kick it!” Then she placed the ball on the ground, kicked it in the opposite direction, and ran off after it!

So much for listening to her father...

It always amazes me the pure joy I see on my little girl’s face as she runs through the grass, and it amazes me the joy I feel just being with her. That day we chased the purple ball around the schoolyard. Then Isabella found a stick lying on the ground, and the ball was forgotten for the time being. I let Isabella run around and pretty much do whatever she wanted. I was happy to let her be free, but she needs to learn to listen to her father and her mother…


A few months ago, Liane, the kids and I had just finished a dinner of fish tacos and cheese quesadillas at one of our favorite little strip-mall restaurants. We were walking back to our car when Isabella suddenly took off running into the parking lot! I caught her just as she came even with the rear bumper, and an instant later a car sped past! If I hadn’t grabbed her when I did, she would have run right in front of that car! I said a little thank you prayer to our guardian angels, for they were surely working overtime that day.

One day not too long ago, Liane was trying to explain something to Dusty, and the boy was arguing with his mother. “No Mom,” he said. “That’s not right.” Seven years old, and he thinks he knows more than his parents!

Sometimes, I have to make a really loud noise to get my children’s attention. For example, one evening not too long ago, Dusty and Isabella were running around the house, laughing and playing, kind of crazy, just being kids. “Okay,” I told them, “it’s time to settle down and get ready for bed.” They paid absolutely no attention to me. So I raised my voice a little, “Kids, it’s time to calm down.” Still they didn’t hear me. I raised my voice even higher, “Dusty and Isabella! It’s time to get ready for bed!” Even though I had spoken to them three times, they were so engrossed in their own business that they still did not hear me (or they simply chose to ignore me). So I very deliberately and forcefully brought my hands together and made a very loud CLAP!
Finally, I had their attention.

Children very often don’t listen to their parents. Sometimes it is out of rebelliousness—they think they know more than their parents. Other times, they just want to do whatever they want. Very often, they are not aware of the dangers around them, or they just don’t consider the consequences; they don’t think about the trouble they can get themselves into. And sometimes, they just plain give in to temptation. Our children very often don’t understand the reasons for our rules, and they’ll say, “That’s not fair!”

We adults are the same.

“Wait a minute!” you might be saying at this point. “We’re not children!”

Really? We tell ourselves, because we’re adults, that we’re smart enough to take care of ourselves. We can decide for ourselves what’s right and wrong. We don’t need anyone to tell us what to do. And what right does the Church have to tell us how to live? Maybe we don’t like the rules, and we think, “That’s not fair.”

I tell you the difference between God and us little human beings is infinitely greater than the difference between us and our children!
“…God, the Father, the Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, of all that is seen and unseen…”
By His Word He created the physical universe, time and space, light and darkness, and all life in all its myriad complexity. He gave us His Commandments to guide us in our lives. And He sent His Son to die for us. What does Jesus tell us to do? Keep the Commandments! And do the will of Our Father in Heaven!

You know, I would prefer that my children listen to me. I’d rather not have to repeat myself, and I would rather not have to raise my voice. I don’t like it when I have to punish my children… but that’s my job. As parents, we don’t make rules to be mean or controlling; we have rules to keep our children out of trouble and to teach them the right way! Without our protection and guidance, as well as our love and nurturing, our children would be lost. When my children choose to break the rules, they bring the punishment on themselves. It is the same for us.

It has been this way since the beginning. Adam and Eve gave into temptation; they disobeyed God’s law, and they separated themselves from God. We see it over and over again in Sacred Scripture: with Noah and the flood, at Sodom and Gomorrah, at Babel and at Nineveh. God gives us warnings—Our Father in Heaven loves His children and He wants us to choose the right way. It’s always the same: if we trust and obey, we will be blessed. But if we choose to go our own way, then any chastisements or destruction that comes, we bring upon ourselves.

There’s a lot of unrest in our world right now. We see it reflected in the upheaval in nature, and we’ve brought it upon ourselves. We’ve raped the Earth’s environment and exploited its resources. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number and intensity of natural disasters. These things have always existed, but even scientists are finding it hard to deny there has been an escalation. Perhaps our Father in Heaven is making a big noise… a Divine thunderclap if you will… Perhaps He is trying to get our attention.

For the past century, our Blessed Mother has been appearing in our world, reminding us that God exists, urging us to listen to Our Father in Heaven.

I remember reading that a favorite hymn in Medjugorje is THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. I don’t know if that’s true, but recently, a friend reminded me of the lyrics:

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord,
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored…”

…the LORD roars from on high, from his holy dwelling he raises his voice; mightily he roars over the range, a shout like that of vintagers over the grapes.
--Jeremiah 25:30

You know, my children aren’t always happy with their mother and me. Well, it’s not about feeling—it’s about doing. And we need to learn to obey our Father in Heaven, even if we don’t always like or understand His rules.

All who have ears ought to hear.

Glory be to the Father!
And to the Son!
And to the Holy Spirit!
As it was in the beginning,
Is now and ever shall be,
World without end.
Amen. Amen.

Paying Attention

Our youngest son, Dustin Augustus, is starting to get a little better about sitting still in church. I still have to give him a gentle reminder every so often, and unless it’s a children’s Mass where the priest has a special homily for the children, Dusty isn’t really too focused on the Mass. His little head is filled with cartoons and video games and the business of seven-year-old boys, all the stuff of our modern, materialistic world that SEEMS more important and exciting than our relationship with our Lord.

Then one Sunday as Dusty was squirming in his seat, it occurred to me that we adults are just the same. How often during the Mass or during prayer do we lose our focus? Our mind wanders and we begin to think of errands that need to be run… Or maybe it’s our job… Or maybe a ballgame or movie…

And in our daily lives, what is it that consumes our thoughts? When we wake each morning, do we roll out of bed onto our knees and pray the prayer that Jesus prayed in the garden? “Not my will Father, but Your Will be done.”

Or do we get up without a thought for Our Lord, our minds already focused on our earthly pursuits of work, fun and entertainment? What are we paying attention to in our lives? What passions consume us? Our secular, materialistic society tells us that wealth and luxury, fun and personal achievement are what’s important. To your own self be true?

But Jesus told us, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” He asks us to die to our selfish selves.

Who are we listening to? What consumes us? The messages of this world: wealth, luxury, fun, entertainment, self?

Our Father in Heaven sent His only begotten Son. Are we consumed with doing good and being good? Are we passionate about giving to the poor and feeding the hungry? Does the suffering in the world pierce our hearts?

Who are we paying attention to? To the messages of this earthly life which is temporary? Or to Our Father in Heaven Who offers us eternal life?

“Do we belong to the world?
Or do we belong to God?
May it be so.”
--Bishop Fulton Sheen

We need to pay attention to the Lord Our God! He has shown us the way!

Not my will Father, but Your Will be done.
Amen. Amen.