I have a dear priest friend, Fr. George who is the chaplain for a place called Guest House. Guest House is a place for priests, nuns, and seminarians who are recovering from some addiction or mental illness. So, yes, it even happens to priests, religious and seminarians.

He says before he even meets with somebody, he already knows what they are going to say,  and it has to do with fatherhood.  None of us are exempt from the reality of what happens when we have a distorted relationship with God the Father. There are three common struggles that people facing addiction often have:

1) They’re no longer able to pray.
2) They’re unable to be in silence, which is why they’ve filled this void and this emptiness with all the different addictive behaviors or things.
3) Interestingly enough is: They’re not comfortable calling God “Father.”  

Jesus gives us this amazing revelation: “you have but one Father in heaven.”

While some of us may have been given a distorted image of God the Father, the whole reason Jesus came into the world was to reveal to us the true Father – this Abba, this unconditional loving father, this daddy, this love that is so patient and this Father that is so kind. This Father that believes in you and hopes in you and endures in you and this Father that will never fail you.

Fr. Michael Denk is an international speaker and author.  He is the Author of Pray40Days: The Personal Relationship With God You’ve Always Wanted and founder of The Prodigal Father Productions, a non-profit that provides programming for individuals and institutions to teach people how to pray.  Many free resources, including Christmas gifts, can be found on his website: TheProdigalFather.org


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