Listening to Fr Jose Plascencia speak about the fatherhood of Don Bosco, I was struck by two of his points towards the end of his presentation. He made a significant point trying to relate God the Father's unconditional love and human fatherhood, equally applicable to motherhood as well.
In every type of human love, there is a prior knowledge of the person being loved, except in one. Parents love their son or daughter even before he or she has a face or a name, even before they know whether it will be a boy or a girl. This rather universal dimension of parental love comes close to the unconditional love of God for his children.
The second aspect is that the love of a father or mother is not at all indifferent to the response of the son or daughter, but it does not depend on the response. Parents love their children no matter what. Even if they know that their son or daughter is turning to evil and unrighteous, one cannot really get a parent to wish evil upon them.
As I listened to these points I was wondering if as a Salesian we can ever be a 'father' to the children we take care of, especially those orphaned or abandoned, like in our Navajeevans. One really needs a different kind of heart to really love. And if we do not make every effort to acquire that heart, we would be making a joke of the prayer of consecration we recite every morning.
In every type of human love, there is a prior knowledge of the person being loved, except in one. Parents love their son or daughter even before he or she has a face or a name, even before they know whether it will be a boy or a girl. This rather universal dimension of parental love comes close to the unconditional love of God for his children.
The second aspect is that the love of a father or mother is not at all indifferent to the response of the son or daughter, but it does not depend on the response. Parents love their children no matter what. Even if they know that their son or daughter is turning to evil and unrighteous, one cannot really get a parent to wish evil upon them.
As I listened to these points I was wondering if as a Salesian we can ever be a 'father' to the children we take care of, especially those orphaned or abandoned, like in our Navajeevans. One really needs a different kind of heart to really love. And if we do not make every effort to acquire that heart, we would be making a joke of the prayer of consecration we recite every morning.
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