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Friends,
Remember how my little widemouth frog Tortellini got amnesia by bonking his head on a tree branch? I connected that to the spiritual amnesia that’s so many of us in this world have. People left and right have forgotten where they come from and until they find that answer, they will not be at peace.
Three of the many questions I asked in last weeks homily, Father‘s – Mind the Gap, were: Where did you come from? Where are you going? How are you going to get there? And the answer is, The Father! We come from God Our Father who created us but then sin separated us from his heaven, love, life, joy, and friendship. This created our spiritual amnesia and in this forgetting, the church reminds us that there is a gap between us and God that we can never overcome by our own efforts. I connected this gap to the sign that started in London train stations in the 1970s: Mind the Gap. Remember, don’t forget, that there is a gap between the train platform and the train, and if you fall in that gap, it will be injurious or even fatal. But there is also another GAP that we must never forget! My attention was focused on the father‘s for Father’s Day, reminding them that God has responded to the gap of sin which leads to injury and even fatality. We learned that GAP stands for God Answers Prayers! Yes, he sent his son to take away the gap between the train platform and the train! Yes, Jesus bridges the gap between the train platform and the train! He lays down his life so that we can walk over him from the train platform which represents life on earth to the train, which takes us to heaven! Again, speaking to father’s, I said that now GAP- God answers prayers- through you! He has given you his spirit so that you, as the priest of your family, will lead your family and many others to all Truth! And that truth is the Father!
I reminded fathers that their children are watching your every word, every move. I asked them, “Are you laying down your life, are you sacrificing everything that you are, to get your family to heaven?”
Obviously, that’s not only the most important question for our father’s, but it is the question we all must answer!
What say you?
+Fr John Amsberry
*Father's and all small group leaders- I think this article would be great for discussion in your small groups.
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