Pope Benedict XVI Teaches Us about the Fatherhood of God

2/2/2013

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balance the family budget, the distracting invasion of the mass media in daily life are some of the many factors that can prevent a peaceful and constructive relationship between fathers and children.

At times communication becomes difficult, trust can be lost and relationships with the father figure can become problematic. Even imagining God as a father becomes problematic, not having had adequate models of reference. For those who have had the experience of an overly authoritarian and inflexible father, or an indifferent father lacking in affection, or even an absent father, it is not easy to think of God as Father and trustingly surrender oneself to Him.

But the biblical revelation helps us to overcome these difficulties telling us about a God who shows us what it truly means to be a "father", and it is especially the Gospel which reveals the face of God as a Father who loves even to the giving of his own Son for the salvation humanity. The reference to the father figure therefore helps us to understand something of the love of God which remains infinitely greater, more faithful, more total than that of any man.

"Which of you, - says Jesus to show the disciples the Father's face - would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him"(Mt 7.9 to 11; cf. Lk 11.11 to 13 ).

God is our Father because He has blessed and chosen us before the foundation of the world (cf. Eph 1:3-6); he really made us his children in Jesus (cf. 1 Jn 3:1). And, as Father, God lovingly accompanies our lives, giving us His Word, His teachings, His grace, His Spirit.

He - as revealed in Jesus - is the Father who feeds the birds of the sky even though they so not sow and reap, and vests the fields with colors of wonderful colors, with clothes more beautiful than those of King Solomon (cf. Mt 6.26 to 32 and Luke 12.24-28), and we - adds Jesus - are worth far more than the flowers of birds of the sky!

And if He is good enough to make " his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:45), we can always, without fear and with total confidence, trust in his Father's forgiveness when go wrong. God is a good Father who welcomes and embraces the lost and repented son (cf. Luke 15.11 ff), He gives himself freely to those who ask (cf. Mt 18.19, Mk 11.24, Jn 16:23) and offers the bread of Heaven and the living water that gives life forever (cf. Jn 6,32.51.58).

Therefore, the prayer of Psalm 27, surrounded by enemies, besieged by evil and slanderers, and seeking help from the Lord, and invoking it, can give its testimony full of faith, saying: " Even if my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me in "(v. 10).

God is a Father who never abandons his children, a loving Father who supports, helps, welcomes, forgives, saves, with a fidelity that immensely surpasses that of men, opening up to an eternal dimension. "For his mercy endures forever," as Psalm 136 continues to repeat in a litany, in every verse, through the history of salvation.

The love of God never fails, never tires of us, it is a love that gives to the extreme, even to the sacrifice of His Son. Faith gifts us this certainty, which becomes a sure rock in the construction of our lives so that we can face those moments of difficulty and danger, experience those times of darkness, crisis and pain, supported by the faith that God never abandons us and is always near, to save us and bring us to life.

It is in the Lord Jesus that we fully see the benevolent face of the Father who is in heaven. It is in knowing Him that we can know the Father (cf. Jn 8.19, 14.7), in seeing Him we can the Father, because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (cf. Jn 14, 9.11).

He is the "image of the invisible God" as defined by the hymn of the Letter to the Colossians, "the firstborn of all creation ... the firstborn of those who rise from the dead", "through whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" and reconciliation of all things, "making peace by the blood of his cross[through him], whether those on earth or those in heaven" (cf. Col 1.13 to 20).

Faith in God the Father asks you to believe in the Son, through the action of the Spirit, recognizing in the Cross that saves the final revelation of Divine love. God is our Father giving his Son for us, God is our Father, forgiving our sins and bringing us to the joy of the risen life, God is our Father giving us the Spirit that makes us children and allows us to call Him, in truth, "Abba, Father "(cf. Rom 8:15). This is why Jesus, teaching us to pray, invites us to say "Our Father" (Mt 6.9 to 13; cf. Lk 11:2-4).

The fatherhood of God, then, is infinite love, a tenderness that leans over us, weak children, in need of everything. Psalm 103, the great hymn of divine mercy, proclaims: "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him For he knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust, for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust" ( vs. 13-14).

It is our smallness, our weak human nature, our frailty that becomes an appeal to the mercy of the Lord so that He manifest the greatness and tenderness of a Father helping us, forgives us and saving us.
And God responds to our call, sending His Son, who died and rose again for us; He enters into our fragility and does that which man alone could never do: he takes upon himself the sins of the world, like an innocent lamb, and he re-opens for us the path to communion with God, he makes us true children of God. There, in the Paschal Mystery, the definitive role of the Father is revealed in all its brightness. And it is there, on the glorious Cross, that the full manifestation of the greatness of God as "the Father Almighty" is manifest."

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Fatherhood, fatherhood of God, Pope Benedict XVI, divine filiation, spirituality, holiness, Deacon Keith Fournier

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1 - 8 of 8 Comments

Anthony Coffey
3 months ago
LOOK WITH FAVOR ON YOUR CHURCH’S OFFERING,
AND SEE THE VICTIM WHOSE DEATH HAS RECONCILED US TO YOURSELF

Comment

This statement is horrible in absurdity, it is a lie from start to finish.

God the Father is being asked to look with Favor on Our Lord Jesus Christ. ! ! !

The Church belongs to Our Lord Jesus Christ, not to God the Father...

Man is only reconciled to Our Lord Jesus Christ,
If forgiven our Sins, by a Priest,
By obtaining the Sacrament of Confession.

Hopefully God the Father will forgive us for this diabolical insult.
Bill Sr.
3 months ago
In Honor of Deacon Keith, I offer this for discernment.
Seeking the Graces of God our Father through the Joy of Prayer
There is nothing we can ever do that is better for ourselves and mankind than turning our attention to our Infinite God humbly in thanksgiving, offering our lives and our work and praising him for his. But the problem is that we often without realizing it permit our finite thoughts and activities or work to overcome us by thinking we are or can become anything more than simply a child of the Father we call God.
We must first realize and accept that being his child is quite enough for anyone. What more could you want than that? For heavens sake, is that not the greatest thing you could imagine, being the offspring of the God of the universe? Once you take the time to put your arms around that truth you can begin to understand just what you are, where you are, and gain control of your thoughts in order to properly direct the life graciously given to you by your FATHER.
Jesus, the one you call Lord, the one you hope to follow, the one who teaches us, the one who was sent from the Father to redeem us from our confusion and sin first and always acted, taught, prayed and worked …in the name of the Father. The business of His Father was all he ever had on his mind and he could not wait to begin being involved in it even as a child.
Do you really think there is a better thing to do with your life than what Jesus did with his? It is good that we try to follow the lead of Christ in our daily lives giving help to those in need and spreading the message of truth and love, mercy and forgiveness. But never ever forget that what he said or did and the message he gave was that of the Father through their Holy Spirit. This is the same spirit which he sent to his church at Pentecost and through the disciples on to us after he returned to the Father.
Understanding this we, like Christ, recognize it is the Father's work we too must be doing and as such we report to him, we go to him for instruction, we ask him for help, and we praise and thank him for our being. How wonderful it is to know and be known by the one who Christ addressed as our father (who is) in heaven and what power and majesty he possesses and that he knows each and every one of us by name and all he asks is that we acknowledge Him for who He is. This is the secret that leads us to the joy of personal prayer.

You see, through the works he preformed, our master the Teacher came humbly in human form into our world with great love to gather and instruct us. He proved to all to be God among us as the Spirit had named him at the time of His conception. Thus our merciful and almighty God revealed He would humbly go so far as to be human…. for our sake. Now, the Spirit of Love at Pentecost comes to the disciples, and through them, to all humanity to give us the strength and courage to go forth in His name accepting the challenge to do on earth the work of the Father …. for His sake.
Our own spirit, made in the image of our creator, now calls upon our humility before the God of the universe, our own Father, to accept the relationship and realize we are not alone anymore. We have all the backing we will ever need to live our life in peace no matter what the challenges of this world sends our way. Know that your ever loving, mercifully forgiving always available Father is eternally in control.
It all comes down to this. We have in Christ through the Divine LOVE of the Father for mankind the armor for the battle against the Evil One who was able in the beginning to convince the first of mankind they were designed to be more than the simple beloved children of the living God. The Deceiver, a more powerful spirit than man but no match for the creator, proved to be a kidnaper of the Fathers children hoping to lie and make all who would join him captives of corruption. Jesus, the very Word and Truth of the Father was mercifully sent to dispel the lie and reclaim the misguided lost and stolen for Him. All those who will believe in Him, regardless of their errors, are welcome to return home with Christ to the love and protection of the Father who alone can give eternal comfort to their spirit. Those who chose not to believe and reject the love of the Father will be lost forever along with the Evil One who despises the Truth.
Pray then, as Jesus did, to your Father in heaven seeking his help and guidance as any obedient child would do knowing how much they are loved. Be mindful always that the Father gives solutions not as this world would conceive but as His eternal Truth would in justice have it. Trust, as Jesus did, that what you ask and what you seek within the Divine Will of our all knowing and loving Father, in his time and with his wise judgment, shall be granted to you.
This surrender to Truth will set your heart free in humility and honor to approach the One who loves you. That heart, at ease with our almighty Father, before it even begins to speak will hear his voice saying …Peace to you my child… and our burdens are lifted, life and prayer become joy.
jh
3 months ago
Terrific explanation of the God the Father. May God bless all fathers that they may reflect Him.
youkokun
3 months ago
If these are only parts of the document, may i ask where the full one can be found? Lately I'd been looking specifically for doctrine on the Father, so this article took me by surprise. That part about how sometimes we're not able to approach the Father because of the flaws of our earthly fathers really struck home for me. It's been a struggle of mine and the next points are intriguing.
Thanks Deacon Keith for bringing this up on the main page!
abey
3 months ago
The word "Father" means the Origin(having no beginning or end) of all things & this we understand from Jesus who declared God as "My Father" & unto us through the Lords prayer. To the word Fatherhood come down from Him branching into Mother hood, brotherhood, sisterhood etc, in short to say Fatherhood forms the very basis of the family, & to also know that it is the Fatherhood come unto man called the Fatherhood of man to the human family, that is under attack today.
Joseph Rogers
3 months ago
Excellent article! Fatherhood is an extremely spiritual experience that is often taken for granted and wrongly joked about it. I am glad this is getting some attention from the Pope. I will definitely reference this in my next piece.
Tom McGuire
3 months ago
People with poor relationships or no relationships with a father require patient loving guides to walk the difficult way to God the Father. My experience has shown that for some God the Father never becomes what the scripture tells us. They suffer and their prayer is "God why have you forsaken me." Let us men model the loving father and walk with those who lack such a person in their life.
Bill Sr.
3 months ago
Keep it up Deacon Keith,
This is so important for us to remember.
You have been on a roll for some time now. We love you.
You are solidifying every truth of our faith for us and strengthening us for the battle on the horizon.
Thank you, God Bless

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