One of the most terrifying, heartbreaking things one can realize from reading the Bible is the fact that many fathers, having devoted their lives to caring for the offspring God entrusted to them, will nevertheless go to hell for failing in the primary purpose for which God gave them the gift of fatherhood.
“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”
“This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. [...] Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. [...] As the nations which the Lord destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God.”
Once we become fathers, we are seized by a feeling of both profound joy and profound gravity. Joy at having been used by the Lord for the birth of one of his creatures, his precious creatures. But also gravity, immense gravity, because we are fully aware of the great responsibility that is now ours: to care for this child, still so fragile and so innocent, ensuring, or at least investing ourselves in, their nourishment, their protection, their physical and emotional health, and also a proper education. This natural love that God has placed in the heart of every father is so authentic and so true that the Lord Jesus Christ himself recognized it during the days of his physical presence on earth, as Luke the physician recounts in the passage from his Gospel quoted above. But these seemingly laudatory words of the Lord Jesus Christ are actually thought-provoking, revealing that, in reality, fathers who do not trust in God are even more condemnable than those who have not had the grace to be fathers.
Being a father, becoming a father, allows us to realize that our status spontaneously compels us to do everything possible to satisfy the slightest need of our son or daughter. To illustrate this point, the Lord Jesus Christ uses powerful symbols for the people of Israel: the stone, the serpent, and the scorpion. For let us remember, these three elements are the main characteristics of the wilderness, a desert that God nevertheless allowed his people to cross, providing them with food, health, and clothing. And as the Scriptures reveal, God allowed this in order to teach his people the supreme calling of parenthood.
Indeed, since the supreme vocation of the Eternal Father is to teach his children (to give them spiritual nourishment), God has enabled several of his children to become fathers in order to teach them; to allow them to realize that the true and authentic love they feel for their children is but a reflection of the great love that He, God, has for his children, whom they also are. For let us remember, the Gospel of Luke, which we use here as our primary reference, presents us all as "children of God" because it traces the genealogy of Joseph, husband of Mary, back to “Adam, which was the son of God.” (Luke 3:38). However, it so happens that all of us, precisely because of Adam's sin, have become, from birth, like prodigal sons, sons who have abandoned the Father. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ, through this Gospel that Luke recounts, challenges us, telling us that, however wicked we may be, we cannot allow ourselves to give a stone (symbol of hunger), a serpent (death), or a scorpion (continuous torment) to our child who asks us for bread, fish, or an egg. How much more then, then, would He, God as Father, give the Holy Spirit to any of His children who asks Him; this Spirit bestowing upon them the fullness of God's life through Christ. This gift, this life of Christ transmitted to us by His Holy Spirit, is thus highlighted by the illustrious apostles Peter and Paul: Peter did so addressing the Jews present in Jerusalem at Pentecost, and Paul recorded it in his epistle to the Romans (both references are noted at the beginning of this article). Dear fathers, dear parents, like the prodigal son, it is up to us to return to the Father of fathers, as children of God. It is up to us to ask Him for that precious and indispensable Holy Spirit who restores us as true children of God. For let us remember, never since the Garden of Eden has God imposed His life upon His creatures; even Adam, the very first of His sons, it was his responsibility to go to the tree of life to eat from it. Unfortunately, he chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which brought death. Today, Christ reminds us that in him, life has descended to us once more. Yes, Christ, the Tree of Life of the Father, is available again, and he wants to give it to us. For this, we must come to his feet and ask him for it. So, do we want to live the life of Christ, to live for the glory of the Father alone, as he lived, to be ready for rejection and persecution as he was, and then his apostles and the early Church after him? If we want to, then you can draw inspiration from this prayer to cry out to God.
“Eternal Almighty God, I thank you for the grace of being a father today, thank you for this mission you have granted me. But above all, thank you infinitely because today you allow me to better understand the love that you, the Supreme Father, have for me, as your son, or at least your human creation. I acknowledge that until now, I have more or less lived my life, raised my children, and cared for my family as I saw fit. But today I recognize that the only Life is the Lord Jesus Christ, that He alone is the Way to You and to Life in abundance. Therefore, I ask Your forgiveness for the life of sin and independence from You that I have led until now, like a prodigal and rebellious son. Please forgive me each of my sins, grant me the grace to accept Your forgiveness and to believe in it; including for... (mention, if necessary, those that have most deeply affected your conscience). Today, I return fully to You and beseech You, according to Your Word, to grant me Your Holy Spirit, thus making me Your true child: Your spiritual So. May you now be not only the Father from whom I draw my biological breath, but also the one from whom I draw my spiritual breath, which is your precious and indispensable Holy Spirit! Lead me Yourself, after this baptism of the spirit (this gift of the Holy Spirit), to the baptism of water in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom You save me and in whose name I now invoke You! Amen!”
Add comment