That’s My Dad

Growing up in the East Mountain of New Mexico I have many childhood memories of my father. The one thing they all have in common is that he was always busy. If there was something to be done, he was doing it. If the church needed cleaning, he was there. If there was wood to be cut, he would have been cutting it. If there was only the smallest amount of snow on the ground, he was shoveling it. I remember looking for my dad and calling out for him only to see his head pop up out of some hole or trench he was digging. That’s my dad, he was diggin’ it. I am proud to say that time has not slowed him down. He is still working for his family and that’s the image I have of my dad: getting things done. That is the model that my brother and I follow to this day. Working hard for our families.

I am reminded of Matthew 6:25-33

This is why I tell you: do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order
to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn’t life worth more than food? And isn’t the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren’t you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer worrying about it?

As a child I had no worries. I could just play and live in the beauty and wonder of the world that God made for us. When I look back, my dad took care of everything. We were always clothed. We were never hungry or cold. We never got stuck in the snow and the pipes were always in working order. Everything was always taken care of. I can see now that my dad embraced, with love, the gift of fatherhood that our heavenly Father gave to him when he became a father to my brother and me.


As for me, I am also aware that being a father is not always easy. As a father myself, I try to emulate my dad’s work ethic, but I sometimes fall short when I lose focus on other important areas. I find comfort that the Catechism teaches us that, “human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood” and “He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.”

When I fall short as a father, I remind myself that God is that perfect example of fatherhood and it is that example that I should strive for.