Hi Dad,
You have been a wonderful father. You loved me; you know how to love, with a love full of tenderness. As you breathed your last before my eyes, and especially before my heart, I was glad that I had not left you alone, just as you never left anyone alone. I was honored to have this privilege.
Then, when I read the liturgy of the day, I couldn’t help but be astonished.
“And Abram bowed to the ground. God spoke to him as follows,
‘For my part, this is my covenant with you: you will become the father of many nations.
And you are no longer to be called Abram; your name is to be Abraham, for I am making you father of many nations.” (Gen 17:3-4)
I immediately understood. Everything passed before my eyes. When you had your first amazing experience of God, when at the moment of the baptism in the Spirit, you were given this word:
“Then taking him outside, he said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Just so will your descendants be,’ he told him.” (Gen 15,5)
And when you, childlike with eyes full of wonder, were asking: “what can all this mean?”
When then you had another overwhelming experience in which you were given a golden trowel and clearly heard the words: “ WITH JESUS, ON JESUS…BUILD”. It was a personal call, addressed to you, which you immediately felt the need to respond to with all your heart, despite not knowing how.
You began to offer all of your life and energy to God for the realization of His work, with an unquenchable thirst for His Word and a heart burning with passion, so that that Word could reach out to every person. Many times as I watched you I felt that I was seeing, played out before my eyes, the actions of Jesus “[who] felt sorry for [the crowds] because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Since then, you started to give everything away without reserve: Your time, money, house, nights, days, tears, and heart. Many events, people, obstacles, and sorrows have tried to stop you, but you would always tell me that you felt as if a finger was pointed at your back, which you could not resist. That reminded me of the words of Saint Paul: “The love of Christ impels us…” (2 Cor 5,14)
Whenever you had to leave for God, you had to leave at any cost, even at the very end when you were sick, weak, and sore. And when I would tell you: “Bud dad, at least when you have lunch switch off your phone… ”, you would answer seriously: “I can’t!” And in that answer I could feel your heart’s essence, the essence your drive to follow God’s call.
During the gatherings of our community, which grew before our eyes as your heart grew with it, or before the hundreds of people who came to you for an enlightening word, I would often say:“See, Dad? The father of many nations!”
Yesterday I finally understood. I understood that you were given the gift of Fatherhood. You love with a fatherly love. Not just me. You had a gift that could not be contained. It was a gift for many people.
I have yet to discover the number of people to whom you are a father. I keep receiving testimonies from people that I don’t know, telling me that meeting you changed their lives, mended their marriage, and gave them light; people telling me that they viewed you as their father, people who tell me that when you embraced them, they felt embraced by God; people who were saved in the nick of time; people who felt they were brought back to life; people who call you “dad”.
Now you are taking all these children with you, as a crown that I hope you can wear.
Thanks Dad!
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