We pray today for dads:

• New dads, granddads, stepdads, adoptive dads & solo dads.
• Baldy ones, beardy ones, skinny ones & cuddly ones.
• Dads who tell bad jokes & dads who dance to YMCA.
• Dads who know how to fix things, & dads who just pretend.

Father to the fatherless, we pray for those for whom this day is sadder than it is happy:

• Those who feel they have failed
• Those who are grieving children they never had
• Those missing their dads, or their children, even more than usual.

Father God, in a world where some dads are distant, absent or even abusive we lean into your ever-present love. You are faithful, especially to those of us orphaned, abandoned & hurt. “Even if my father abandons me, the Lord will hold me close.” Ps 27:10 

Father of Comfort, heal our wounds. Restore the dignity, integrity and centrality of fatherhood in our nation. “I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. And I pray that you may know love.” (St Paul)

Amen.