Fathers Day

(I also posted this a few days ago in anticipation of Fathers Day. Holidays are often bittersweet times: bitter for some, sweet for others: Fathers Day can be one of those times...)

My own father was a good man, a loving, hard-working, faithful provider and protector of his family, a man of faith.  Still, as I observe dads with their sons today, I see a kind of relationship I wish my father and I might have shared, a closeness that seemed to escape us in spite of the love I know he had for me and I for him. Times have changed and parenting is different today than what I remember growing up - and so much of what I see is good, so very good, indeed.

What Fathers Day means to each of us depends so much on our relationship with our dad and his with us.

So, on this Father's Day weekend, here is a litany of prayers for dads of all kinds.  And following the litany, a little fatherly advice from someone whom many call "Father" though he has no children of his own...

Let us pray…

For all our fathers,

            let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who had no opportunity 
   to know their own dad,

         let us pray to the Lord…

For our fathers who have died,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who grieve 
   the loss of their dad,

         let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who are chronically 
   or terminally ill,

         let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers expecting 
   the birth of a child,

         let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers awaiting the arrival 
   of an adopted child,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For men who desire to be fathers,

   let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers who see the sun rise and set
    in the eyes and smiles of their children,
       let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers in good relationships
   with their children and for those who aren't,

        let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who grew up without a dad,

   let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who have failed their children

   and who are trying again,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers whose hearts break
   over the troubles their children face,
      let us pray to the Lord... 

For fathers of children
   who won't forgive their dad,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers 
   who won't forgive their children,
      let us pray to the Lord... 

For fathers who will be forgotten
   or ignored on this Fathers Day,

      let us pray to the Lord..

For fathers who work multiple jobs 
   to provide for their families,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For unemployed fathers,
   desperately looking for work,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers whose sacrifices
   are unknown to their families,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers unable to provide 
   what they want their children to have,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For every father mourning the loss 
   of a child he loved,

         let us pray to the Lord…

For fathers who are single parents,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For divorced and separated fathers
   who miss their children,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers estranged from or barred
   from seeing their children,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers away in the military
   and for all those who serve in harm's way,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers of sons and daughters 
   lost in war,

      let us pray to the Lord…


For fathers who are in prison,
   let us pray to the Lord...

For fathers of children who've been abused 
   or gone missing,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For grand- and great-grandfathers 
   who care for their children's children,

      let us pray to the Lord...

            

For teachers and coaches and mentors
   who've been "father" to many young people,
      let us pray to the Lord...

For priests, men we call “Father” 
   who have no children of their own,

      let us pray to the Lord…

For all fathers in need of our prayers,
   let us pray to the Lord...

God our Father,
   in your wisdom and love you made all things.
Bless our fathers, living and deceased.
Let the example of their faith and love shine forth.
Grant that we, their families,
   may love and honor them always
   with a spirit of profound respect.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things. Bless our father. Let the example of his faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, his family, may honor him always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. R/. Amen. - See more at: http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/fathers-day-prayer-from-catholic-household-blessings-and-prayers/#sthash.7GW9evfb.dpuf

God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things. Bless our father. Let the example of his faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, his family, may honor him always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. R/. Amen. - See more at: http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/fathers-day-prayer-from-catholic-household-blessings-and-prayers/#sthash.7GW9evfb.dpuf

God our Father, in your wisdom and love you made all things. Bless our father. Let the example of his faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, his family, may honor him always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. R/. Amen. - See more at: http://www.imagecatholicbooks.com/fathers-day-prayer-from-catholic-household-blessings-and-prayers/#sthash.7GW9evfb.dpuf

                   And a little fatherly advice for Fathers Day... 

• Dads, you can't too often tell your children 

     how much you love them…

• You can't too many times hug your children tight 
      and kiss them good night…

• There's no limit on how many times

      you can take each of your children, individually,

         for a walk, a talk, a ride or an ice cream cone…

• Call your children by name

      and have special names for each of them…

• Be a father whose thoughts, words and deeds

      set a standard for his children who will be parents…

• If you have a boy, be sure he hears you call him son 
      in a way that lets him know how happy and proud you are 
         to be his father…

• Every son, without even knowing it, looks for his father's blessing 
      on who he is and who he will become:

         find a thousand ways to give your son your blessing…

• A daughter learns how a man loves a woman

      through how her father loves his wife and his girls:

         be the best of loving teachers for the women in your life...

• Make sure your children know that you're a man of faith

      who believes in the God whom Jesus calls his Father…

• Pray with your children at home: at table, at night before bed,

      when times are hard and when times are great…

• Pray with your children at church every Sunday

      so they'll know the place God holds in your heart…

• A father's relationship with his children

      is a great and untapped natural and spiritual resource:

         wisely conserve and generously share the resource you are…

• Too many dads come to the end of their lives 

      wishing they'd done "more of this and less of that"
         with and for their children:

            take stock of all this now, before the time's too short…

• You can be sure that your children, in their heart of hearts,

      want you to be the dad that you, in your heart of hearts, 
         want to be for them:

       never be afraid to be the father all your hearts desire...

Happy Father's Day!


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