Our Father, who art in heaven

On The Bachelor last night Sean visited the homes of the four young women who might be chosen to receive the engagement ring and continue serious dating prior to a lifelong commitment in marriage.  Each of the women’s fathers was very protective of “his little girl,” not wanting her heart broken.

The Gospel today opens with the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father, who art in heaven.”  Like these four women, we have a Father in heaven who cares about us more deeply and protectively than any human father.  “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,” we pray.  May we honor and acclaim God as our Father as much as God, our Father, honors, cherishes, and protects us, His sons/daughters. That protection is intense when we most need God to shield us from evil, be that coming from within or outside of ourselves. God is there through the good Samaritans of our lives when we have been injured (spiritually, physically, emotionally).  God is there when we feel abandoned or scared, when we are in agony as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane or on the cross on Calvary. God is there when the Spirit leads us into the deserts of our lives.  Yes, as Jesus said as He returned to His Father in heaven, "I am with you always until the end of time."