Heard at Mass....
During his years at our parish, an elderly priest talked about his own father a few times during his homilies. Through this sharing, the impression was that his situation with his dad had been one of those truly awful situations. There was no love there.
One day, this same priest offered that he was healed of much of his hurt when he began to ask God to fill in the love that he needed from his earthly father, yet never received.
This was an "aha!" moment for me. As a mom of adult children, I realize how often my love fell short. Even when it did not fall short through any neglect on my part, I can see now that my love often fell short of what my child needed at the time.
This gave birth to a new prayer for me- "God, please fill in the love that my children needed but did not get from me".
It is okay that I failed my children at times. They are okay. There are no perfect earthly parents. Only God can offer that perfect love.
So, I pray that I give my children daily the love that they need, and that God's grace and love fill in what I am unable to provide.
During his years at our parish, an elderly priest talked about his own father a few times during his homilies. Through this sharing, the impression was that his situation with his dad had been one of those truly awful situations. There was no love there.
One day, this same priest offered that he was healed of much of his hurt when he began to ask God to fill in the love that he needed from his earthly father, yet never received.
This was an "aha!" moment for me. As a mom of adult children, I realize how often my love fell short. Even when it did not fall short through any neglect on my part, I can see now that my love often fell short of what my child needed at the time.
This gave birth to a new prayer for me- "God, please fill in the love that my children needed but did not get from me".
It is okay that I failed my children at times. They are okay. There are no perfect earthly parents. Only God can offer that perfect love.
2 comments:
Oh how beautifully put! Something I never would have thought of without the prompting of this priest (and you). I'm saving this for sure :)
Laurie,
Wow, I needed to hear this now and everyday! I'll be the first to admit that I fail miserably at giving the necessary love to my children...guilt sets in all too often :( Thank you for this beautiful reminder to do my best, and give it to God to do the rest. :) Merry Christmas and Happy 2016 to you!
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