Father's DAy 2014

Father’s Day Today, let us honor the Father of all Fathers, Our heavenly Father, Almighty God, who loves unconditionally all of his children. Our Father God’s love for us in infinite and full of compassion, mercy and most of all forgiveness. For parents and children who are estranged from each other they need to reach out to each other to seek/give forgiveness just as Christ taught us in the parable of the Good Shepherd. In it God as the Good Shepherd would leave the flock to seek out the lost sheep and return it to the flock. With God as our Father, we are all, every person on this planet, brothers and sisters and we are also brothers and sisters to Jesus Christ, the son of God our father. On this Father’s day when most children seek to find a special gift for their earthly fathers we need to explore what gift we are going to offer to our Heavenly Father. For children who have two fathers which in my mind this is a double blessing for them but, sadly some children have never known their earthly father because of their passing before they had a chance to know them or through divorce or other circumstances. Our Father in heaven is a loving, caring, compassionate and merciful father, not the God of vengeance of the Old Testament and Christ proclaimed that while He was here on earth. Now is the time for each and every one of us, to acknowledge that we are all brothers and sisters with the same heavenly father and for us to begin to act with the same compassion and love toward each other that Christ exhibited while he was on earth to all He encountered. On this Father’s day let us make a gift to God that will be truly pleasing to Him and take action in keeping with how we as brothers and sisters and children of our Father God Almighty should be acting. Let us begin to make the changes in this world that will bring about a time of brotherhood, justice, compassion and equality for every child of God and our brothers and sisters in Christ not for just a few chosen by one group or another because they feel comfortable with them but for ALL. When Christ taught us to pray He said; “When you pray, say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on this earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our trespassers and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil” In the liturgy of the Eucharist the priest continues this prayer with these words before the congregation responds “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever” “Deliver us Lord from every evil, and grant us the peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ” and then we acknowledge “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. AMEN