A father’s love
Deacon Doug McManaman


This summer my wife and daughter and I travelled to New York City for the annual conference of the Little People of America.  Our hotel was located in the financial district of lower Manhattan, next to the World Trade Center.  My 13 year old daughter, however, was more interested in exploring New York City than she was in attending the Conference, and so in no time we found ourselves on the subway to Times Square, American Girl on 5th Avenue, Build-A-Bear, the Apple Store, FAO Schwarz, the Plaza Hotel, the Late Show, the Carnegie Deli, Macy’s, Ambercrombie & Fitch, and to Canal Street to look for a $35 “Coach” purse.  My job was simply to follow her and not let her out of my sight for a second.

For me, the trip was painful enough to cover my penance for the 2010 Lenten Season—so I plan to take it easy next Lent.  Although I thought five days of New York City was suffering enough and was looking forward to a relaxing flight back to Toronto, there was more to endure.  Shortly after take off we hit turbulence and I began to sweat, quickly taking note of all the little white bags in my vicinity.  I filled four of them.  The shame was so great I couldn’t look up, but my daughter couldn't wait to tell me that those around me, thoroughly annoyed, had their noses well covered.  Needless to say, this was not a trip I could see myself taking again any time soon.

My original plan for a silent retreat this summer was foiled as a result of a medical emergency; a friend with whom I’d planned to attend the retreat was instructed by his doctor not to leave the province of Ontario.  I ended up doing my annual retreat at the Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont, New York.  I was happy to learn that I did not have to drive through Manhattan in order to get there.  

Google Maps, however, had other plans.  It mapped the shortest possible route, which turned out to be the longest, in terms of time.  Moreover, I found myself on the George Washington Bridge, something I desperately hoped to avoid.  The New York skyline was the last thing in the world I wanted to see—or so I thought.  

As I was driving across the Hudson River, I found myself looking over to my right, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of lower Manhattan. I was surprised at myself, that I would take my eyes off a busy road, on a bridge of all places, in order to see a skyline I wanted desperately to forget only weeks earlier.  

At that moment, I realized that I had a genuine soft spot for New York.  Why? I’d wondered at that moment.  The reason is that my daughter loved New York so much that when I beheld the city, I saw it from her point of view.  All I could think of when I glanced towards it, imagining the busy streets, the storefronts, 5th Avenue, Battery Park, etc., was my daughter and the delight she experienced.  Her spirit seemed to permeate the entire skyline of Manhattan Island.  I love New York because she loves New York.  

Here, perhaps, is a way to understand something of the Father’s love for a sinful world.  God the Son joined a human nature, entered into human suffering, lived among us who are sinners and died our death.  God the Father loves the Son, and the Son knew that the Father could not take his eyes off of him.  And because the eternal Person of the Son entered into the darkness of this world and joined Himself to the same nature we all possess, the Father sees us differently, that is, not in ourselves, but in His Son.  He has a soft spot for the world, because wherever He looks, He sees His Son, who entered it.  Every face delights him because in it and behind it He sees the face of His son.  Every hand, every foot, and every tear, delights Him because in them all He sees the hands, feet, and tears of His only begotten Son.

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