There is much evil in our country now, as was in the past. But even the worst of fathers during all these times is still loved by God, and through prayer and His grace He still changes lives, if not of any terrible fathers of today, then of their children, because He never stops loving us.
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As I headed out toward mass this morning, the radio was playing the last 10 minutes of an old Family Theater episode.
As I listened, a man returning from the war (WWII) was welcomed home by his wife and child. Looking for a place to stay for them, to his great frustration he found none available. His wife said they could continue to stay with her brother, to which he reluctantly agreed. After months, he angrily told his wife how he was going to tell her brother to stop loudly playing all those old records, including the cracked one now playing. The discussion got heated, and she said it was not her brother who was the problem, but him. Now angry at everything, “You are a changed man,” she said. And so, he angrily packed and left his wife and child.
The next thing you hear is a radio disc jockey playing old records, including the cracked one which just finished playing. He says he is near the end of this set of old records, which began with songs from before the war. And I/you now realize that the disc jockey speaking is the man who just left his wife. (I assume earlier in this radio program he had played records about courtship, marriage, children, and separation due to war.) Then you hear how the DJ sees himself in that series of records he is playing, up to this cracked record --- and his wife who is driving to the radio station at that moment also hears his words. And they re-unite, realizing their story is not only about the recent cracked record, and there is more music to be played. The end.
After that story ends, the Family Theater radio show host had a short reflection, and then ended the broadcast, as every episode in this series ends, with the reminder: “The family that prays together, stays together.”
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When I arrived at church this morning, before mass, I read some words which now had new meaning for me. From the Second Letter to the Thessalonians: Pray that we may be delivered from confused and evil men. For not every man has faith … avoid any brother who wanders from the straight path … but do not treat him like an enemy, rather, correct him as you would a brother.
And later I read from Deuteronomy: The Lord has blessed you in all you have done; He has watched over your progress as you journeyed through the vast desert. The Lord, your God, has been with you; no need of yours has been forgotten.
“Come to me in your distress, and I will save you.”
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All these things brought me to tears this morning, as I recalled my own family history, and events which happened when my dad returned from WWII. When he had to leave, in 1942, my mom was pregnant with my sister. Returning home from the war years later, my sister ran away when put in the arms of her father, from “that stranger,” when she first met him. And then, I am told, dad had many nights where he woke up screaming from his dreams of war events, disturbing everyone. I think today we’d call it PTSD, but after months of it my mom said: “You are a changed man from the one I married. (The exact words the woman on the radio program said). This can’t continue.” And my dad moved out, wandering around the country, riding in train boxcars, like a hobo --- with many like him along for the ride.
So many in our country today don’t know what the people then were acutely aware of: War is Hell.
I never learned what triggered my dad to return home; perhaps it may even have been the Family Theater broadcast I heard this morning. But he did return home, and my sister accepted him --- and one year later, I was born.
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So many of the words said at mass this morning also struck me deep. And then during his short homily the priest said that our lives can be summarized in the words of the Psalm which we had heard earlier at this mass. And he said, “I want to read those words to you again, slowly; please listen and reflect on them.” And then he read:
Psalm 23:
The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
For thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.
The priest then told us to pray those words again later today, and then again tomorrow. “Hear them. Feel them. And if you feel nothing, well, I feel sorry for you.”
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After the priest’s homily, we said some prayers, then petitions. And then, most unusually, the priest said: “And we pray for an end to child sex-trafficking in our country.” And my thoughts flickered back to the fact that this year is a Jubilee Year of Hope in the Catholic Church, a once in 25 years event, for unusual things to be done. Wouldn’t an end to child sex-trafficking in our country be such an unusual, most pleasing to God, event? I don’t pay attention to politics and all the dictates (like a dictator) of the president but even as I pray for our country and its leaders each day, I may add a detail in this Jubilee Year, and pray for an end to child sex-trafficking. And then just trusting in God to make all things right.
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And one final thought came to me, on my ride home from church. I recalled a book I had read (and probably reviewed here) about the lives of most noteworthy atheists of recent years. The book showed how each had come from broken families, or ones with an abusive father. Unlike the PTSD fathers who left their home in the above stories, these had stayed and wrecked the growing-up lives of their children (and wives), and became an image of all fathers for them, including God the Father. So, they had no faith. But that same book had stories of those same atheist’s children’s lives, for these atheists had not let their terrible growing years make them evil parents. And so, their children, surprisingly, largely converted and became Christians. The book shows how important a father is for a child. And it also shows that God the Father never leaves us, always loves us, and helps us bear the trials of life, if we but turn to Him in prayer, and trust in Him.
