I want to share with you a story about my childhood and my father.
During the war in Lebanon, my father was kidnapped and killed at the age of 37. I was three years old at the time. Two years later my mother sent me to school. I was happy to be at school, but what made me most sad and angry then was that all my friends talked about their fathers, how they looked after them and gave them things and presents. Every time I came home I went to my mother and asked her: “Where is my dad, and why doesn’t he bring me presents?!” My mother would answer that he was in heaven with Jesus.
Two years later, the nuns began teaching us the Lord’s Prayer, and that is when the prayer struck me: “Our Father, who art in heaven…” Until I was twelve I prayed this prayer thinking I was praying for my earthly father, who was with Jesus in heaven! Now I realize that God the Father gives us earthly fathers so that we can begin to know him little by little, and how much he cares for us and loves us, giving us models like our fathers, who are saints.
To finish, I first wish a happy feast to our Father in heaven, asking him to take care of my father, who is now with him in heaven. Happy Father’s Day to all fathers: protect them, Lord, and keep them in your care; grant eternal rest to all the fathers who have left us. Amen.
Fr. Michel Kassas
