Our Heavenly Father
Through the Eyes of Our Sisters
The Holy Spirit is faithful. It is amazing to see what insights He prompts and how unique and multifaceted every insight can be, with always still more to be discovered. We hope these insights from our sisters bless you and broaden your own love, knowledge and understanding of our Heavenly Father.
The Creative Artistry of Our Heavenly Father
By Sister Timothy Marie O.C.D.
Is this something that happens in the normal human lifespan? Or is it happening just to me? A nudge to think more often and more deeply about God. Like right now, for instance. I can’t get out of mind a thought that one of our sisters told me many years ago. She told me, “I love to think about our Heavenly Father as He created our world. I never get tired of this. It refreshes and renews me, and I end up a better person for it.”
She spoke to me about His delicate creative touches, the artistic variety, the complementarity of everything our Heavenly Father creates – as Scientist, Artist, Mathematician, Poet – I could keep on going – without equal. He paints, composes, and arranges creation quicker than the blink of an eye. And with such detail!
She added, “I like to imagine Him smiling with such profound joy as His artistic touch thinks up each and every thing – like the sun and the moon, for example, with their risings and settings, complete with perfect nuances of color, tone, and hue, and the mind-boggling fact that from day to day, they are never the same.
So, now, at this juncture of my life as I find myself aging a bit – well, maybe more than just a bit – I can’t stop thinking about this attribute of our heavenly Father – how much He so deeply loves, and delights in all of it, every single part of it. How much love went into creation. How much He loved creating me. And you.
Scripture says, “…and God saw that it was good.”
Oh my Father, my Creator, forgive me for taking it all for granted, for taking You for granted and all you have done, are doing, and continue to do for me into eternity itself where “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which (You) have prepared for those who love Him.”
Patience – An Attribute of our Heavenly Father
By Sister Carmen Therese, O.C.D.
The horn of the fire engine blared as the truck speedily made its way to its destination. “What a coincidence that it seems to be turning at every street that I need to turn on,” my grandfather thought to himself as he drove home from work. “I hope that it’s not me!” Words nervously spoken with the hope that it would not come to pass. However, as he rounded the corner of the street, there were the firemen at his home, putting out the fire. More astonishing was the cause of the fire, a lit match. In her fear of spiders, my mother struck a match to burn the creature out of existence. Consequently, the bathroom went up in flames instead. This incident was to go down in history as my grandfather would retell it numerous times amid howls of laughter.
As I reflect more deeply, I realize that God the Father uses our faults and failings to tell the story of His divine patience. We create many fires in our daily lives through poor choices that often lead to sin and a turning away from Him, yet God shows His great love for us by patiently waiting. He patiently waits for us when there is no time for Him in our schedule. He patiently waits when we lack hope to move forward and He patiently waits as a Father who desires to lavish His mercy upon us until we one day finish the good work He has begun in us.
He Provides
By Sister Mary Scholastica, O.C.D.
As I was reflecting on God as Father, it came to me that each of us on this life journey will have our own unique experience of fatherhood. Our experience is never a neutral thing, regardless of how neutral we might want to make it. And most of us will have experienced some kind of pain or sorrow with those who are called by vocation (as fathers) to image God in a particular way. It’s inevitable. If we cannot even fully know and understand ourselves, how can we expect others, who are not privy to all the thoughts and feelings of our inner world, know and understand us in every way. It’s not possible. Our parents, too, just like us, are imperfect human beings with their own share of blessings, life struggles, gifts, and brokenness.
None of the above is bad. It’s just life. And it is such a blessing on this Fathers’ Day 2025 to realize in a deeper way that all of this can be redemptive, regardless of who our parents are and what our life experience was and is.
God provides.
I’ve experienced God’s providence again and again. He always provides. Brokenness within us and around us are oftentimes the avenues the Lord uses to show us tangibly His loving providence watching out for us at every juncture of our lives. In innumerable, unfathomable ways, He provides. And in the end, each of us has the grace to respond to this profound love. When we do, it changes our perspective. Where we felt loss and saw lack, we feel full and see abundance. He always provides. If we don’t see it, it’s not that He’s not there, it’s just that we’re unable to see Him at this time. Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, help us to see You. Heavenly Father, help us to see You.
The Father’s Faithfulness
By Sister Marisa, O.C.D.
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22–23
As I look back over more than forty years of living consecrated life as a Carmelite Sister, my heart overflows with awe and gratitude for what God has done for me. My call, my vocation, and especially my perseverance, are all pure gifts. God has done in me what I never could have done on my own apart from Him. Great is His faithfulness!
He has always been there, ready to inspire and guide, always patient and forgiving. His gaze pierces through my weakness and sinfulness and sees the daughter, created in His image, that He loves with an everlasting love. He never says “enough”, never gives up. His mercies are truly new every morning.
So, as I journey through the joys and sorrows of this life, I do so in the sure hope of the Father’s faithfulness. He will always be there, at my side, protecting me and giving me comfort.
Loving Creator
By Sister Mary Louise, O.C.D.
“They are your gift to me.” John 17:24
In his poem entitled “Romances,” Saint John of the Cross describes the creation of the world as the work of God the Father creating our world a masterpiece gift for His Son. The poem narrates the love of the Father for the Son in fashioning such a splendid gift and the delight of the Son in receiving from His Father. It is easy to read the words and come away with the impression that it is just an exchange within the Trinity and far removed from one’s daily life. But the verse from the Gospel of John condenses the reality into six powerful words at the beginning of this reflection: “They are your gift to me.” Each one of us is a gift from God our Father, a gift fashioned with His Son in mind. Our human race is the bride He prepares. When we pick out or make a gift for another person, we look for something that will delight them. So, there is something about you, about me, about all of us, our very identities, that was created intentionally by the Father to delight the Son!
Yes, the mountains are breathtaking. Certainly, the stars at night are mesmerizing. Without a doubt, the depths of the ocean are beyond beautiful. But this is all just the setting for the real gift: EACH ONE OF US! Every day we must re-anchor ourselves in this reality and live from this point of giftedness. And hear the Son say to His Father, with amazement and delight, “Thank you!”
