The Broken Toy
by Rev. Robert J. Hermley

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The little boy ran to his father with a tear in his eye, and held out the broken Christmas toy.

"Fix it, daddy," he pleaded, "fix it; it's all broken."

The father smiling took the broken toy and patiently worked over it for a few moments and then handed it back to his son.  "There it is, son, good as new," he said; and so it was.

And as I watched, the young boy hugged his father and then ran off to play; I thought:

Heavenly Father, how often have I broken your laws and messed up the beauty of the soul that You have given me?

How often, Father, have You fixed my soul in Confession and how often have I run off afterwards to play again with the occasions of sin, and the temptations of life?  Have I ever even stopped to thank You?

Lord, I do now at this moment.  I am sorry for being so careless.

Father, fix me once again.  I'm all broken - my soul, my heart, my life.  Put me back together again.

And very soon after, as I walked out of the Confessional, I'm sure I heard my heavenly Father say to me, "There you are son; good as new."