My dad gives the best gifts in the world. Forget expensive presents wrapped in fancy paper, those take minimal thought and effort. My father's gifts are from the heart and more precious than gold. Instead of going out and shopping for Christmas or birthday gifts he does Holy Hours for those he loves. Not only does he do Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament for my family, he also has Masses said for us. He often sends me beautiful cards telling me this! Considering how difficult it is for him to get around, going out and doing Holy Hours for his loved ones takes a lot out of him. He even kneels for as long as he can, despite being in pain and barely able to walk.
I'm not sure he'll ever really understand how much his gifts of love mean to me, though I tell him so. I feel so thankful whenever I receive these "spiritual care packages" in the mail. Perhaps in heaven he'll understand the enormous value of his gifts and the flood of grace contained therein. When I was young I just wanted him to be well and a regular father like other kids had, which was impossible due to his handicaps. Now that I've grown in wisdom I can see that by choosing this father for me, God was giving me the most extraordinary gift of all. Though he may not have been able to always support us physically... his spiritual support has been non-stop.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteI love this! These gifts of holy hours and Masses is so much more beneficial and meaningful. In addition to the suffering your Dad endures in getting around and kneeling.
God bless him and how blessed his family is.
Thanks for sharing this.
Karin,
ReplyDeleteAnd he does it often! My brothers and sisters get these gifts, too. He also prays all the mysteries of the Rosary everyday. No wonder God graced me with such a miraculous conversion years ago, I bet it was obtained through my father's intercession. He is determined to see all his children back in the Church before he dies. Considering there's only one left to bring back at this point - he's doing very well!
I have tears in my eyes as I read this post Mary, it is so beautiful. Not only do you have a wonderful father but seeing how much you appreciate his love and special gifts is such a beautiful thing.....so many young ones today are all about whats in it for me.....you are a great example for everyone including us old ones.......:-)Hugs
ReplyDeleteYou are not old, Bernie!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoyed your time with Fallon. She sounds like a wonderful young lady!
Hi Mary333
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post this is. It is so full of real love and caring from and to your dear father.
When we were children in school, the dear nuns would help us make pretty cards. We would place on them the number of Masses, Rosaries, visits to the Blesssed Sacrament, etc, that we made for our Mothers on Mothers Day or for our fathers for Fathers Day. For Christmas, we usually did one for both of them. These were called Spiritual Bouquets and how proud we little ones were to present them on the special day. I only realized how special they were to my parents after my mother died and among her keeepsakes was a stack of old Spiritual Bouquets from her seven "children". She had kept them all and from 7 children - so you can imagine how many she had saved. It sounds to me like your dear father grew up with the same or a very like tradition.
On another topic Mary. I wanted to let you know about another little Book Giveaway I am doing at present. I am letting you know personally because the last time I did one you said you would have entered but you thought you lived too far away. I am here to remind you THAT NO ONE LIVES TO FAR AWAY. I WILL SEND THE BOOK TO ANYWHERE! So if you are interested, pop in and see what it is about.
Thanks for another great post and may God bless you and your very dear father.
Breadgirl,
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! I really don't think a gift can get much better than that! I like the term "Spiritual Bouquet". Maybe that's where he got the idea, he did attend Catholic schools when he was young.
Thanks for letting me know about the giveaway :)
I'm sure your dad's prayers have had a great influence on your life. When we were kids in Catholic school we always were urged by the nuns to give our parents spiritual bouquets for Mother's and Father's days. In recent years I revived that practice and Mom and Dad always let me know they appreciated it. We never know what good our prayers are doing for someone.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if kids today are being taught about spiritual bouquets, but I hope so. Gifts that are aimed at getting us to heaven are more valuable than anything.
Such a wonderful thing to do...I am going to start too...God Bless you and your father.
ReplyDeletePraise God,
ReplyDeleteMay God bless you, also. I am enjoying my visits to your site :)