God the Father’s Love & Father’s Day

Of all of the things that we think about fatherhood, I believe the most important attribute is that it allows us a glimpse of God the Father’s love for us. When I reflect on my relationship with my own father, I think about steadfastness. My father was not very affectionate. This was a product of his relationship with his own father. One thing that I knew, however, was that he was always there for us. He showed his love in his support and in his commitment to our family. That shaped my understanding of the unconditional love that God has for us. Now, as a father of four boys, I am charged with the greatest responsibility — to be the father figure, and to become the definition by which my children come to understand God’s love. As a father, I have been led to a deeper understanding of God’s love for us in the love that I feel for my own children. This is a love whose depth I had not experienced until becoming a father. It is a love that would lead me to gladly lay down my own life for my children, as Jesus did for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) As a Catholic man, being a father is one of the greatest gifts I have ever been given.

--Miguel Velazquez, POTHE Parishioner