Greetings in Christ, all!
It’s Father’s Day this weekend and I wanted to take a moment to thank God for my Dad by sharing with you something I wrote to him last year.
After Mom died, I moved to the Flint area and asked my dad if he wanted to move into the rectory with me and he agreed.
The first night in the rectory, the emergency line rang at 2:30 am: I was needed at the hospital. I jumped out of bed and threw my cassock on, got the dog and opened my bedroom door to find my dad standing there with his rosary and iPad in hand. He had heard the phone and simply said “Let’s go.”
He has joined me for every hospice, hospital and death call since he moved in. He stays in the car and prays for the person I am ministering to. If I take too long, he gets out his iPad and plays Sudoku.☺
This is the man I was blessed to grow up with. This is the man he has spent 87 years becoming. This is the man I model my life after.
Fidelity, service, strength under control and sacrifice…all that and more.
That’s my dad and I am so grateful for him.
I encourage you to visit your dad today and if there is no way to do that, call him and tell him why you love him and what you are grateful for. If your dad is with Jesus, pray for him and ask him to pray for you.
I also want to express how grateful I am for the many, many dads who regularly go to confession at Holy Family. I have never encountered a parish where so many men come to this most wonderful sacrament. Thank you, dads. Thank you with all my heart.
Fjk