Ideally an earthly father would have helped teach each of us how to navigate this winding world as we aim to attain entrance into the eternal home. Sadly, there are many fatherless children these days for various reasons. Whatever each of our circumstances is, there comes a point when eventually an earthly father is not present to us, yet we can come to know that we have an infinitely powerful, loving, and wise father in God the Father, as well as a queen mother of all graces in Mary, the new Eve.
Just as we can displease an earthly father, we can do things that are displeasing to our eternal Father. We must ask for the knowledge to be aware of what is sinful, and for the humility to come to the Father, through Jesus, with all our brokenness and mud of self, no matter how shattered or engulfed we are. St. Therese of Lisieux explains:
“It is not because I have been preserved from mortal sin that I fly to Jesus with such confidence and love; even if I had all the crimes possible on my conscience, I am sure I should lose none of my confidence. Heartbroken with repentance, I would simply throw myself into my Saviour’s arms, for I know how much He loves the Prodigal Son. I have heard what He said to Mary Magdalene, to the woman taken in adultery, and to the Samaritan woman. No one can make me frightened anymore, because I know what to believe about His mercy and His love; I know that, in the twinkling of an eye, all those thousands of sins would be consumed as a drop of water cast into a blazing fire.”—St. Therese of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower
