Father’s Day 2023

06-18-2023Letter from the PastorFr. Don Kline, V.F.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The attack on the family and particularly on fathers and fatherhood seems to be a favorite pastime for many who are out of touch with reality. These attacks come in the form of promiscuity and adultery which is seemingly glorified by many in social media and other Hollywood types. Divorce rates are happening at a record pace which is leading many young couples to fear making a commitment to anyone. As a result, couples often decide to cohabitate with no intention of marriage “in case things don’t work out.” This “test run” for marriage often leads to children who are then abandoned by their fathers.

We also see the increase of so called “same-sex unions” in which couples are adopting children and calling this the “modern family.” Pornography, a trillion-dollar industry, is destroying lives and leading many to suffer with powerful addictions and total alienation from members of the family and from God. All this and more seems to be designed to destroy the family unit as God intended it to be.

As followers of Our Lord Jesus, how do we respond to these attacks on the family? Christians, by God’s design are a people of hope. With hope, we place our total trust in God. Yes, we all have our weaknesses. We all suffer from our sins but even in our weakness, we know that God is our Rock, our Fortress, and our Strength amid life’s difficulties and failures. On this Father’s Day, 2023, I want to emphasize the importance of fighting for the family as God intends family to be which is the center of culture and how civilization continues as designed by God.

The role of the father in the formation of wholesome, solid, and holy families is crucial to the survival of the family and our world. You may have heard it said that the mother is the “heart” of the family, and the father is the “head” of the family. That is why a good father needs to know his identity in Christ the head of the Church. We read in Sacred Scripture Ephesians 5: 23, “For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself is the savior of the body.” Similarly, the father of the family represents and reflects the image of God the Father. Jesus taught us to call God the Father, “Abba.” This is best translated as “Daddy.” So, when a father encounters God the Father in an intimate and personal way, he will be the father whom God has called him to be to those whom God the Father placed in his care.

As a father who knows himself to be God’s beloved son and who seeks to be in right relationship with God, he is then better able to love his children and see them as a precious treasure that God has entrusted to his care. A father who knows Our Lord is better equipped of fulfilling his primary purpose of bringing his children to their ultimate destiny which is heaven. A child is a gift given to father and mother but with the primary purpose of the parents being ladders by which the children can climb to heaven.

We need to pray, protect and defend fatherhood as God intends. An authentic father is called by God to provide for the spiritual need of his child(ren). The means that authentic fathers will teach their child(ren) to pray as soon as possible. My experience with the children in our school is that they are like sponges. Sponges can absorb dirty water and clean water. That means that a child can absorb the dirt of the modern world or, through the help of a good father, absorb that which is pure, noble, and uplifting.

One of the greatest gifts my parents gave me was the gift of prayer. They taught me how to pray by showing me how to pray. They put into practice the immortal saying of Father Patrick Peyton: “The family that prays together stays together.” My dad was and still is a man of prayer who was not afraid to pray publicly. I once read that “the man is greatest when he is found on his knees!” A memory of my dad praying on his knees is something I will always remember from my childhood. I will always treasure that fact that we would pray together as a family. Prayer always included the blessing of the meal (even at restaurants), the family Rosary and Sunday Mass even when we were on vacation, which is of course the greatest of all prayers.

I see my dad and all good fathers to adopt the posture of Moses. Remember, it was Moses who elevated his arms so that the Jews could win the battle against their enemies. Fathers, I encourage you to pray daily for your family for their protection from all evils - physical, moral, and spiritual. Pray for your family’s holiness and foster a desire for heaven within your family. An authentic Christian father should have his eyes always fixed on heaven while being aware of the snares and tangles of the enemy who seeks to destroy the family.

The greatest desire of the father for his family should be the salvation of their immortal souls. Jesus said, “What would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? What can we offer in exchange for our immortal soul?” I truly believe that until the vital role of the father is restored in the family, the family and our world will suffer deeply. The one who is called to the vocation of marriage aspires to a lofty calling from God. Marriage assumes an extremely important responsibility. The end of the vocation is holiness of life and the heavenly reward among the Saint with God for all eternity.

Let us turn to the best of earthly fathers, the virtuous Saint Joseph, and beg for his powerful intercession. I encourage you to pray this beautiful prayer to St. Joseph for fathers.

Wishing you all a blessed Father’s Day.

Fr. Don Kline Pastor