What is "Daddy" Really Like?

by Father Tony Pereira

I've developed an image of a Model Dad from all the ads I've seen on TV, heard on the radio, or read in the paper and magazines. Have you noticed, that according to those ads, all dads have hair, where the right cologne, look in good shape, and even eat the right foods'fat free and non-cholesterol diets. In other words, at least once a year, around Father's Day, we forget that dads may be imperfect, and we think of all the good things that they do and represent. We give dads a break for one day, and think of them trying to be a positive influence on their families.

In Mark4:35-41 you will find the familiar story of the disciples being caught in a storm and in fear waking Jesus up saying "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Jesus was so tired that he was sleeping through a storm. Today, you will see dads sleeping, not in the front of a boat but on a recliner in the family room. And how many dads can relate to the scene that followed? The disciples wake Jesus because they are afraid of drowning, and feel that Jesus can fix their problem. How many dads, or mothers for that matter, have been waken by their children to deal with some major "emergency"?

"Dad, I've got a problem. Come fix it! Come and help me!" Dad gets up and takes care of everything. And, just like Jesus, in a very "cool" way says; "It's okay! I've got it covered. Why are you afraid? Everything will be okay." Jesus solves the problem. ("Look," the disciples say, "He's got a handle on everything. Even the wind and sea obey him.")

You know that the Gospel is not just for dads. It is for all of us. It's you and me, who at times are tired and feel life's burdens. We too can run to Jesus and wake Jesus. We too can call to our heavenly "Dad" when we are being tossed about by the storms of life.

One time I was speaking with a high school girl who, even though she was a teenager, told me that she felt so old, and found life so burdensome. The Gospel is for her also. You see, when the Apostle Mark wrote the Gospels he was writing for the people in the Church of his day. They were beginning to feel disillusioned. "Remember the story of Jesus in the storm," Mark says. "Have faith in him."

It was 65 years after the death of Jesus. Emperor Nero began another persecution of the Christians, and they were afraid. They had been waiting for the second coming of Jesus in all His Glory, and it had not happened. The Apostle Mark was saying to them, "If you feel like you are in a storm; on a personal or church level, on a country or world level, on any level, remember the story about the time Jesus was in a storm at sea. He asked his disciples why they were afraid. Was he not with them in the boat? He's got it covered. Everything will be all right. Just trust in Him!"

In another passage Jesus says; "Come to me all you who find life burdensome, and I will give you rest." [Mat11:28]

Father Tony Pereira is one of the Diocesan Liaisons. He serves as a Parochial Vicar at St. Simon Church in Los Altos. Published in the August 1994 issue of "Living Water" the newsletter for the Charismatic Renewal in the Diocese of San Jose.