Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which giveth life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
This collect begins with the acknowledgement that God is our “Gracious Father.” He is the very essence of fatherhood – we only know a good father or a wanting father due to the fact that we have a good and gracious Father in heaven.
For many in other religions, this is a very offensive concept – that God could be referred to as our Father. Within Orthodox Judaism it is still considered near blasphemy to pronounce the name of God – God is known through His word and through His creation, but is not a personable being. Within Islam, God or Allah is impersonal and unknowable. Equally within eastern religions, God is a disembodied force that one seeks to align with but cannot be known nor know you.
For Christians the title of Father implies exactly what it means – that God desires both to be known and to know us as His adopted sons and daughters.
A sound sermon by the bishop of San Joaquin. It appears that the diocese is in good hands!