seed. Then God sends His sunlight and rain to
make it grow, but the farmer's work is not yet ended: he must continue
to keep the soil in good condition and clear away the weeds. In due time
the potato is taken from the ground, brought to the market, carried to
your house, cooked and placed before you. You take it without even
thinking, perhaps, of all this trouble, or thanking God for His
goodness. This is only one article of food, and the same may be said of
all the rest. Your clothing is provided for you long before you need it.
The little lamb upon whose back the wool is growing, from which your
coat is someday to be made, is even now far away on some mountain,
growing stronger with the food God gives it till you need its wool. The
little pieces of coal, too, that you so carelessly throw upon the fire
were formed deep down in the earth hundreds of years ago. God produces
all you use, because He foresees and knows you will use it. Moreover He
protects us from danger; He teaches us by the voice of our conscience
and the ministers of His Church, our priests and bishops. He loves us
too, as we may learn from all that He does for us, and from the many
times He forgives us our sins. He shares what He possesses with us. He
has given us understanding and a free will resembling His own. He has
given us immortality, i.e., when once He has created us, we shall exist
as long as Himself--that is, forever. When Our Lord died on the Cross,
He left us His many possessions--His graces and merits, the holy
Sacraments, and Heaven itself.

It is surely, then, just and right to call God Father. Our natural
fathers give us only what they, themselves, get from God. So even what
they give us also comes from Him.

Before the time of Our Lord, the people in prayer did not call God
Father. They feared Him more than they loved Him. When He spoke to
them--as He did when He gave the Commandments to Moses--it was in
thunder, lightning, and smoke. (Ex. 19). They looked upon God as a great
and terrible king who would destroy them for their sins. He sent the
deluge on account of sin, and He destroyed the wicked city of Sodom with
fire from Heaven. (Gen. 7:19). They called Him Jehovah, and were afraid
sometimes even to pronounce His name. But Our Lord taught that God,
besides being a great and powerful king--the Ruler of the universe and
Lord of all things--is also a kind and good Father, who wishes His
children not to offend Him because they love Hi