“Thérèse would move much more easily toward the Father because of having experienced a human father full of goodness and tenderness.”
We return to that idea of goodness again. And I’ve been sitting with this one in my own life — as a father of five.
There is an opportunity before fathers in particular that I don’t think we talk about enough. To be, in some real sense, the face of the Father for our children. Not just to model the faith — though that matters — but to let ourselves be, as best we can, a reflection of God’s goodness and tenderness in the home.
The downstream effects of that are hard to overstate. A child who grows up experiencing a father who is present, good, and loving will find it easier to believe that God is present, good, and loving. That’s not a small thing.
St. Louis Martin didn’t just raise saints. He gave them a picture of fatherhood that pointed beyond itself — toward the Father.
That’s the calling. Goodness and tenderness, pursued faithfully, day after day.
Let us pray. Jesus, You revealed the face of the Father. Help us to do the same in whatever way You want. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
