Bad parents?

Today’s first reading (Genesis 21:5, 8-20a) presents us with some examples of parenting that are not the best (to put it perhaps too gently).

A mother takes away her son’s playmate because of her own jealousy.

A father throws his son out of his house.

Another mother leaves her child under a shrub in the desert to die.

Some people blame bad parenting for their own behavior or even for their professed inability to relate to God as a Father.

The words of Isaiah (49:15) need to be taken to heart:

Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.

Whether we had or have good parents, bad parents, or mediocre parents, God our Father loves us personally with a parental love that is infinite, eternal, and close at hand.