By Deacon Ron Nelson | Special to the Herald

As we welcome Father’s Day this June 15, I cannot help but reflect on the words of Jesus concerning God the Father as recorded in the Book of John in recent Sunday and daily readings. We, as believing Christians, know that the Father loves us with an eternal love beyond our capacity to understand. It is another one of those mysteries. As a matter of fact, we still have a hard time, just as the early disciples did, when trying to know the Father and the extent of his loving influence and work in our lives. We have, however, some advantage over those early believers in the centuries of theological and biblical study to help us.

Jesus answered many questions concerning our Father in Heaven. He brought the Father to our level of understanding when he referred to Him as Abba or Daddy. Previously, Jewish believers were not even permitted to utter God’s name, Yahweh. Jesus tells us that it was the Father who, because He loved us, sent His only Son, Jesus himself, to redeem us and forgive us our sins. As he prepared to leave this earth, Jesus said if we love Him, the Father would send His Holy Spirit who will give us the truth, be our guide and comforter on our journey to Heaven.

Jesus also promised us that He and the Father would dwell within us if we would simply believe His promises. At the Last Supper Jesus called on the Father to give eternal life to the disciples who were at the table with him that night. He offers the same eternal life for us today, describing it as “to know the Father” and “to be in Him and Him in us.” Some day this will all be clear to us. In the meantime He blesses us who have not seen but still believe.

As Father’s day approaches, I also think of my own father who died in September of 1991 at the age of 86 from the devastation of Alzheimer’s disease, which slowly drained him of his bodily and mental functions. We kept Dad home during those long 10 years that he suffered.

My father was raised in the old school of “work hard and play hard.” He was successful in the business world and very well liked and respected. He was known especially for his kindness and fairness. He worked hard because he loved my mother and I. He played hard because he knew how to put balance in his life. He was a good provider for his family and retired at age 65.

Just as with God the Father, I wish I could have known my father better. As my Heavenly Father loves me, I know my earthly father loved me, but Dad was never very expressive about his feelings. He did tell me that he loved me during his last years and I responded gratefully and told him that I loved him too. What he mostly did, however, was show me how to live through his example. Like my Heavenly Dad, I am sure that my earthly Dad loves me much more then I can imagine.

I am, with my wife Luci, a father of four children, 15 grandchildren and four great-grand children. When I was younger I thought of myself as a failure as a father, with children acting out, getting into trouble and not taking advantage of the opportunities that Luci and I offered them, I was sure it was my fault somehow. Of course, guilt rode roughshod over my feelings. I barely survived those times.

It was about then, however, that I began to feel at peace with the knowledge that everything would be OK when I realized that God the Father was in control of everything. I eventually learned that the most important thing that I could do for my children was not so much to give them opportunities but to live my life as a good example. My life and how I live it has become their legacy. I still want them to have everything that is good. The example of my struggles to be good and even holy is all that I can offer them. I guess I learned a lot from my dad.

I am reminded of the parable Jesus spoke about the father who would not give his child a snake if he asked for a fish, or a scorpion if he asked for an egg. I then, weak as I am, still want the best for my children and knowing that, in God’s loving hands, He would give them the most important gift of all, the Holy Spirit, if they would simply ask. I pray they have asked and are filled with His love. I wonder if my children know how much I really love them. I wonder if they know how much their Heavenly Father loves them.

In the Great Millennium Jubilee of 2000, the Holy Father John Paul II said in his third year prayer, the voice we most desire to proclaim from our heart and which is often hard to express is the following:

“Blessed are you, Father in Heaven, who, in Your infinite mercy, stooped down to us in our distress and gave us Jesus, Your Son, born of a woman, to be our Savior and friend, our brother and redeemer. We thank you good Father, for the gift of this new millennium and this Jubilee year. Make it a time of favor for us, the year of great return to the Father’s house, where, full of love, you await your straying children to embrace them in Your forgiveness and welcome them to your table in their festive garments. We praise you Father, forever!”