“Your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
(Matthew 5:16)
"Dear Friends –
This is the month we spotlight fatherhood and all the earthly things our Dads do for us, overtly mainly, for we may never know all the hidden things and sacrifices that parents endure on our behalf. Genuine love doesn’t always come with the details of the expense incurred for the gift, because true humility in an individual will keep secret the real natural and emotional cost expended. However, sometimes we witness the great and persistent efforts our parents go to in order to fulfill the desires of our hearts, and sometimes not, but in any event, it can be obvious that tremendous effort was spent, and we are most grateful. How easy it is for me to transpose these same demonstrations of affection from an earthly father to Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, and I hope that is so for you also. We ask Him for
something in prayer, and low and behold nothing happens, or so we think. God normally works through the natural channels of humanity to bring miracles our way, and that takes time; Jesus worked miracles instantly to demonstrate and prove the powerful abilities of God. Depending upon the intimacy of your relationship with God, you may see signs along the way that He is at work fulfilling your request; someone enters your life essential for their knowledge, connections, etc. and that takes time to arrange; you may need growth in skills, finances or whatever, and God will arrange for that to happen before granting fulfillment of your prayer; you may also see doors definitely closing to your heart’s desire, while another better door appears to be opening close by! There are so many ways a loving Heavenly Father will let you know He’s working on your behalf… trust Him… hope, watch, and listen. Other times, nothing visible happens and suddenly prayer is answered, and in that joyous moment you can look back and see that this and that happened that you now know was necessary for completion, and so you scream out to heaven, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
During Christ’s public ministry, He constantly pointed out His oneness with God The Father, and so, “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother," (Matthew 12:50), consequently, Jesus is our brother through Baptism and God becomes our Heavenly Father. It was Christ’s ardent desire that we know the magnificence of this Heavenly Father and He often pointed out The Father’s phenomenal characteristics emphasizing that "we should be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). The loving compassion and kindness of our Heavenly Father were detailed by Christ in the parable of The Prodigal Son, and also that this Supreme Being would have that same caliber of love and concern for even a sparrow that might fall to the ground, additionally showing us how cognizant Almighty God is of everything that happens in this world, truly amazing. The innocent trust, wonder, and awe of a 
beautiful little child were pointed out by Christ to show the characteristic we must adopt to become heirs of our Heavenly Father. “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will NEVER enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Whether you are five or fifty-five, it requires childish humility to admit we are not self-sufficient and willingly dependent on a Heavenly Father as any youngster is with an earthly father. Christ didn’t tell us to pray to Our God, BUT to “Our Father who art in heaven… because an intimate personal relationship should always be strived for through love, not duty. When Jesus cried out, Abba Father in the Garden of Gethsemane He was addressing God with filial intimacy, and that would be equivalent some say to our calling out to Daddy in current fearful times. At thirty-three, Christ displayed child-like trust in The Father wishing, as all we humans would do in the face of terror: “All things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.” (Mark 14:36) Christ didn’t want to be crucified, but He trusted The Father, knowing God’s powers would get Him through the ordeal to a guaranteed resurrection. The Father’s Will was the more perfect solution, even as horrible as it was, and so, the complete obedient surrender of Christ’s human will was given over to the divine will of His Heavenly Father, and that is exactly what we must do… trust our Heavenly Father to always do the right thing for us.
The best thing you can do in loving gratitude for a Heavenly Father is to show Him off! Make Him known to the unknowing. Brag about what He has done for you, and let others know He can and will do the same for them. Increase His family here on earth by enduring the birthing pains for new Christian brothers and sisters. When others witness your good deeds, they are seeing God act through you, and that brings honor and glory to your Heavenly Father, and thus, Dear Old Dad will be so very proud of you!
HIDDEN LOVE, IN PLAIN SIGHT
When you look with the eyes of faith, you will see things that unbelievers in God could never visualize. The acts of Divine Intervention that occur in your life, or the miracles, prayer answered, and blessings you appreciate as the work of His hands, are nothing more than coincidence or lucky breaks to the mind closed to God. But you know 
better, for these “gifts of love” could only come from Him because they would have been an impossibility for human hands to originate. Take for example the jogger who was called in early to work which caused him to miss his usual pre-work run. Later that day he learned that a huge semi-trailer truck had overturned at the exact spot and time as to where and when he should have been that morn. A grateful soul was he, for he knew exactly WHO had called him into work early to live another day. Many people have similarly escaped near-death situations where they are absolutely positive it was only by the hand of God because of its precise occurrence. One person has explained the obvious recognition of God’s handiwork by its timing, using “money” as the metaphor for the gift needed. The money arrives, not the day before or the day after, but at the exact moment in time it is needed; nobody can do that but God.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta wrote to that precise love and timing of Almighty God, and I share her exact words for your amazement. “A few weeks ago, I had the very extraordinary experience of this tenderness of God for the little one. A man came to our house with a prescription from a doctor. He said the child was dying, his only child was dying in the slums of Calcutta, and that medicine could not be got in India anywhere. 
It had to be brought from England. As we were talking, a man came with a basket of medicines. He had gone round to the families and gathered half-used medicines for our poor people-we have these mobile clinics all over the slums of Calcutta and all over the place, and they go round to the families and gather half-used medicines and bring them to us, and we give them to the poor people. And there he came, and right on the top of that basket was that medicine. I just couldn’t believe because if it was inside, I would not have seen it. If he had come before or after, I would not have connected. I just stood in front of that basket and kept looking at the bottle and in my mind I was saying, “Millions and millions and millions of children in the world-how could God be concerned with that little child in the slums of Calcutta. To send that medicine, to send that man just at that time, to put that medicine right on the top and to send the full amount that the doctor had prescribed.” See how precious that little one was to God himself. How concerned he was for that little one… Anything may come: impatience, failures, joy, but say to yourself, “The Father loves me.” God has created the whole world, but He is our Father. In prayer, create that conviction from the inside: Father and child.”
Christ detailed The Father’s love for His children, even to the awareness and concern for a sparrow, because He is cognizant of everything that occurs in His creation. God rested after His creative efforts, but He most definitely did 
not leave our world to operate on autopilot but has taken an active participation in its operation ever since. If you will remember back to the Garden of Eden, it was God’s original intention to maintain a personal relationship with Adam and Eve, even walking with them through the garden, but they messed that up by sinning and lost His friendship. God still intends to maintain a personal relationship with His children and does so, but that is lost to the deaf, dumb, and blind to God’s magnificence. His children “see” their Heavenly Father every day of their lives, they hold tight His hand as they walk through the darkness, and they sing out with joy as He brings them to a new dawn. They recognize His gifts, blessing, and presence in their daily needs, for while He is hidden to some, He is the Heavenly Father that is most definitely in plain sight.
