Holy God,
whom we call Father,
we give you
thanks for the people who have been
our earthly
fathers in this life,
and we pray
for all sorts and conditions of fathers.
For fathers
who have striven to balance the demands
of work,
marriage, and children
with an
honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.
For fathers
who, lacking a good model,
have worked
to become a good father.
For fathers
who by their own account were not always there for their children,
but who continue
to offer those children, now grown,
their love
and support.
For fathers
who have been wounded by the neglect and hostility of their children.
For fathers
who, despite divorce, have remained in their children's lives.
For fathers
whose children are adopted,
and whose
love and support has offered healing.
For fathers
who, as stepfathers,
freely
choose the obligation of fatherhood
and earned
their stepchildren's love and respect.
For fathers
who have lost a child to death,
and continue
to hold the child in their heart.
For those
men who have no children,
but cherish
the next generation as if they were their own.
For those
men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides.
For those
men who are about to become fathers;
may they
openly delight in their children.
And for
those fathers who have died,
but live on
in our memory and in the communion of your Saints,
whose love
continues to nurture us.
All this we ask in the name of your beloved
Son,
who is both
father and mother to us all.
Amen.
This is a wonderful
song celebrating God as the good good Father…
