THE VOCATION OF FATHERHOOD

Father's Day is approaching, and as Vincent Wheeler writes, it is long past time for fathers to reclaim the model established for us by St. Joseph.

If fathers would invest as much time and effort in their children’s spiritual welfare as in their physical, material and intellectual development, they would then unlock the real treasures of fatherhood. There is no greater earthly joy for a father than witnessing his child’s discovery of God’s love; than joining with his child in experiencing the only lifestyle that leads to true peace and happiness; than knowing deep in his heart that he has done everything in his power to protect his child’s soul from the ways of the world and prepare his child’s soul for the endless promises of heaven. If there was only one possible success in life afforded to each father, it is exactly this which his whole being should strive for.

The correlation between a weakening, spiritually passive fatherhood and the functional obsolescence of the family is far from superficial. When trust is eroded by absenteeism, wisdom by worldliness, and sacrifice by selfishness, the very roots of the family become exposed and are soon washed away. The shifting foundation of the family is in desperate need of spiritual reinforcement. Fatherhood is the footing on which to build; faith, the cornerstone; and God, Himself, the builder.