The Faith of our Fathers

There was a time when fathers took the reigns of spiritual leadership for his family. Sadly, many fathers in our present age seem to lack this. We have a generation of fathers who don't go to church, don't lead the family in prayer, don't read scripture, don't participate in the faith and don't have an active relationship with God. This lack of emphasis of faith is demonstrated to the next generation as well, learned by our actions.

However, there was a time when fathers acted as priests and were the leaders in the family. In the Old Covenant, the father would offer the sacrifice of the lamb. He would mediate the offering to God on behalf of the family. He was the spiritual leader in the household, and he would bring salvation to the family through God’s covenant.

What would happen if fathers today turned off Sports Center and opened Sacred Scripture? What would happen if they turned off their smartphone and prayed for and with their children. What would happen if they expected their family to eat dinner together, to say grace together and, "if you're living in this house, you're going to church with us”?

Call it sexist or gender discrimination, or whatever you want, but I believe this world is longing for fathers who are willing to be more like our Father in Heaven. We need fathers who are moulded in the reflection of Christ, to choose to love, even when it’s hard, to long for sacrifice, to “love your wives like Christ loved the Church” (Ephesians 5:25). We need fathers to demonstrate the type of man our daughters deserve, and the type of man our sons need to strive for.

Christ laid His life down for us and calls us to do the same. As fathers, we need to recognize that our fatherhood is a participation in the Fatherhood of Heaven. We receive our fatherhood from God the Father. Let us strive to be more like Him. As we ourselves strive for the holiness of the Father, and raise our family in that holiness also, we will start to see the world begin to change.

Let us pray, “Lord, help us to be holy like You are holy. Give us strength to live Your will and we ask that You infuse charity into our hearts. We welcome You into our lives, to take control of everything we do, recognizing that everything we have comes from You. We offer You our family, our careers, our finances, our gifts, our talents and our whole lives. Have your way oh Lord. Amen”.