GOD AS FATHER

Let us start our preparation with the reflection on God as Father. Why do we call God as Father? Are we Sons and Daughters of God? Christ taught his disciple the Lord's Prayer. In it, Christ granted us to call God as our Father. Why? It is because with the coming of Christ here on earth, we became adopted sons and daughters of God.

God as Father has a horizon of denotations and elucidations. “The Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity.”[1] When we say father, what comes in our mind? There are two implications when we talk about God as Father. First, God as “the first origin of everything and transcendent authority.”[2] God created the world for us. He created it not just because He has nothing to do but because for us to live in it. Even our very own existence is due to the creating hands of God. The Israelites, whom the Sacred Scriptures speaks of as chosen people of God considered God as the Ultimate creator (Deut. 32:6).

Second, God is at the same time goodness and loving care for all of his adopted sons and daughters.[3] Instantly, we think of God here as being a provider. A father is someone who gives all and provides everything that a family needs. He is considered the breadwinner of the family. He works hard to provide what the family needs. God as a Father provides us with all the things we necessitate.

It is then but proper to respond to such action of God. As adopted Sons and Daughters of God, we are asked to respond in love. How do we respond in love? It is from our actions towards the created things that we can respond in love.

God as Father provided us the world not to destroy but to use and take care of. We then need to cultivate such gifts from God. Our lives as well as all the things we see must be taken care of. We then have the responsibility as adopted sons and daughters to promote goodness for God himself as Father is good. All He had created are all good, the plants, the sea, the trees, the animals even us are good.

Many of us complain that God is not here. Well literally, it is hard to feel the presence of God. But he himself assured us through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that likes any father, he is always with us (Mt. 11:27). He guides us. He comforts us. He accompanies us every second of our life. Such is the love of God as a Father for us. What we need to do is search the deepest core of our connection with Him so that we can see Him, feel Him, and touch Him.

The questions then that we need to ask ourselves are what are we doing every moment of our life? Where is God in our hearts, in our minds and in our lives?

[1] CCC 198.

[2] CCC 298.

[3] Ibid.