What Can We Help You Find?
Listen to the Letter
Listen to the Podcast
Back to Table of Contents

Quick Links: Letter, Hungry for More, Moral Authority, Making the Connection, Further Reading, Next Steps

 

Hungry for More: Letter Fifteen

A natural outcome of radical feminism and its intentional design is the feminization of men. If women desire to be “equal” with men in every way, then it follows that men should become feminine to meet in the middle. Traditional masculinity is vilified in our culture. This emasculation has created the loss of true and genuine fatherhood among us. Since the image and metaphor of “father” are essential to our understanding of God, we are even further disoriented from God.

Part of this is due to the trajectory of Western ideology as it impacted industrialization. Originally, fathers mentored sons into adulthood as they worked together at their family trades in their ancestral towns and villages. Families had to be close for survival. Everyone knew each other and had an identity. Family life was centered on the Church, creating a “sacred canopy” that spiritually and sacramentally cared for everyone from birth to death. With industrialization and men looking for jobs in the cities, working away from their homes in factories, we see this breaking down. Fathers are separated from their sons and daughters.

To illustrate how insidious this is, all we have to do is go to Immanuel Kant, a very influential German philosopher of the so-called Enlightenment. For him, our central ethical responsibility is to maintain our autonomous freedom. Anything that violates this, no matter how good it may seem, is unethical. Therefore, a son’s filial submission to a benevolent father is evil because it is an interior and spiritual submission; his heart belongs to his father and not to himself. This completely undermines the Lord’s Prayer. Though this philosophy is not so bluntly expressed in our culture, it is the essential belief that underlies all the evil of our society, including our educational system.

It is no wonder that fathers have little to no idea how to bring their sons to manhood and daughters to womanhood intentionally. This is an art long lost to our culture. Traditionally, boys had to become men in their “teens;” even the term “teenager” is a modern word purely associated with the modern breakdown of our families. My father’s generation is often called the Greatest Generation because of what it accomplished in World War II. It may very well be heroic, but it failed completely in producing fathers who actually fathered their children.

And so we ended up with the vast crowd of “fatherless” children of the 1960s, totally ill-equipped to deal with all that was thrown at them in terms of drugs and sexuality. The culture was good in identifying the hypocrisy of their fathers’ generation and tearing its belief structures down but failed miserably in constructing anything better in its place. The social engineers had a free hand at twisting the educational system into a contorted monstrosity that ruins children spiritually, morally, and intellectually from elementary school on to the highest and most elite universities.

So we must, in our Church, re-educate men first on how to become genuine men and, second, how to be true fathers. A very good start is the book Leaving Boyhood Behind, Reclaiming Catholic Brotherhood by Jason Craig. It addresses head-on the problem of men who never grew up because they were never intentionally mentored by fathers and/or father figures. This must be done in the context of a brotherhood where true masculinity is modeled and encouraged.

Finally, this whole issue of fatherhood must be addressed in the broader context of God Himself. Jesus defined Himself as the “Son of God” and addressed His prayers to God, His “Father.” Jesus invites us to understand and embrace God as a father. 

As the Catechism states:

240 Jesus revealed that God is Father in an unheard-of sense: he is Father not only in being Creator; he is eternally Father in relation to his only Son, who is eternally Son only in relation to his Father: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

And:

238 Many religions invoke God as “Father”. The deity is often considered the “father of gods and of men”. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is Creator of the world. Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of the law to Israel, “his first-born son”. God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. Most especially he is “the Father of the poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are under his loving protection. 

Jesus enjoins us to embrace God as “Father” knowing full well that all earthly fathers are far from perfect models of fatherhood. Still, we are encouraged to approach God as our Heavenly Father. Since the idea of “father” has disintegrated in our culture, it is that much more difficult to appreciate God as our father. The work before us is clear; we must resurrect our notion of fatherhood in our relationship to our earthly fathers, ourselves as fathers, and God as our Heavenly Father.

Again, the Catechism teaches:

239 By calling God “Father”, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard: no one is father as God is Father.

Respect of parents and of God are linked:

2214 The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents. The respect of children, whether minors or adults, for their father and mother is nourished by the natural affection born of the bond uniting them. It is required by God’s commandment.  

With its radical feminism and philosophies, it is easy to see the intentionality of our modern secular culture to break down fatherhood. The aim is for the state to raise our children for us by creating a socialist state, a utopian society without God who makes moral demands, where everyone is free of moral obligation but not free to think for themselves, and in the end be enslaved to the system.

The Church must be strong and deliver genuine fatherhood back to the culture, both human and divine. Our men must take a stand and be the spiritual leaders of our homes. In so many ways, everything depends on men being men and fathers, protecting their families by example, knowing the truth, and having the courage to fight.

 

  1. John Paul II, Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body, trans. Michael Waldstein (Boston, Massachusetts: Pauline Books & Media, 2006), 53.

Moral Authority

1Corinthians 15:45-50 Thus it is written, “”The first man Adam became a living soul”; the last Adam became a living-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual which is first but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; and is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Eph 6:4 Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Col 3:21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

PS 113:9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

1Tim 5:8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

 Catechism References

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 379-382, 416-419): Explains Adam’s original holiness, his responsibility, and the transmission of original sin.

380 – “Father most holy,…[y]ou formed man in your own image and entrusted the whole world to his care, so that in serving you alone, the Creator, he might have dominion over all creatures” (Roman Missal, EP IV 117).

381 – Man is predestined to reproduce the image of God’s son made man, the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters (cf. EPH 1:3-6; Rom 8:29).

415 – “Although set by God in a state of rectitude, man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God and sought to attain his goal apart from him” (GS 13 § 1).

416 – By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only fro himself but for all human beings.

417 – Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and juice; this deprivation is called “original sin”. 

418 – As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the domination of death; and inclined to sin (This inclination is called “concupiscence”).

 1604 – God who created man out of love also calls him to love – the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being. For man is created in the image and likeness of God who is himself love. Since God created him man and woman, their mutual love becomes an image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man. It is good, very good, in the Creator’s eyes. And this love which God blesses is intended to be fruitful and to be realized in the common work of watching over creation: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Gen 1:28)

2221 – The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. “The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute.” The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable. 

Vatican Documents

Vatican documents, particularly through the lens of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and teachings from Pope John Paul II (e.g., Mulieris Dignitatem, Familiaris Consortio), define Adam’s role in the family through the narratives of creation and the fall, presenting him as the foundational husband, father, and representative of humanity. 

Key aspects of Adam’s role in the family according to these documents include:

  • Progenitor and Representative: Adam is considered the first father and the head of the human race, designed by God to propagate the human race.
  • Original Unity and Equality: In his initial state, Adam (representing humanity) is not a solitary being, but part of a “first form of communion between persons” with Eve.
  • Stewardship and Care: Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden with the responsibility to “till it and keep it,” a role that extends to stewardship and protection within the family.
  • The “Head” and the Fall: As the head of the human family, Adam’s disobedience introduced original sin, which is transmitted to all descendants by propagation.
  • Reversal by the “New Adam”: The negative role of the first Adam is contrasted with Jesus Christ, the “New Adam,” who restores humanity, and who acts as the head of a renewed family. 

Key Vatican Documents:

  • General Audiences (e.g., Pope Francis, 2015): Emphasize the need for present, loving, and patient fathers, contrasting controlling figures with the merciful father of the prodigal son. 

​Return to top of page

 

 

Making the Connection

A Real-Life Example

Here we share a story to help people relate to the lessons by example.  It may be a story taken from the internet, the tale of a saint, or an illustration taken from among our own church family. The following story is about a young man who was raised Catholic from birth, in a family with two devout Catholic parents, and how that experience developed him into the kind of husband and father that is needed to continue the Catholic tradition and carry it forward into his own young family and his faith community.

Ryan’s Story:

Currently, I am part of a men’s group that puts on a retreat every year for the men of our parish. The retreat team is made up of men whom I’ve known for years now, but there are always new men that join, usually after attending the retreat as a participant. The group of men is a mix of ages, family size, years as a Catholic and life experience. Typically, during the first meeting we go around the table and introduce ourselves and discuss how we became involved with the retreat team. A lot of guys, me included, refer to ourselves as “Cradle Catholics.” I’ve used it to describe how long I’ve been a Catholic, but also use it as a “skip” button for telling my faith journey. Using the term “Cradle Catholic” denotes “I’ve been Catholic my whole life so that’s why I’m Catholic.” But as I’ve grown in my Faith I’ve taken the opportunity to start answering the question, “Why am I Catholic?” and, because about a quarter of my life I was Catholic because my parents said I was, the question “Why am I still Catholic?”

As with many Catholics, I was initiated into the Catholic Faith via my parents having me baptized. While that may seem obvious, I think my parents both being Catholic was important to me still practicing my Faith today. I’ve had friends and acquaintances grow up in a house with parents who practiced different faith traditions and it created confusion. If it didn’t create confusion, it gave the parents an opportunity to remove a source of friction from the relationship (marriage can be challenging as it is) by nixing a specific faith tradition all together. Not only did my parents share the same faith tradition, but it was an important enough part of their lives that they took the actions necessary to have me baptized in the Catholic Faith. I feel like sometimes this can be overlooked, but I think it should be recognized and celebrated as the first step integral to the rest. 

After Baptism my parents ensured that the Catholic Faith was something that I was able to practice daily. This started at home with Mass on Sundays, grace before meals, prayers at bed time, and sometimes daily Mass where I would go with my mom to the rectory in downtown Sykesville and play with matchbox cars under the table while the adults enjoyed coffee and donuts. I feel as though I grew up, literally in the Church. There was always something going on at Saint Joseph’s where my sisters and I would have to tag along whether it be a bible study, Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner, or dropping off casseroles. My parents also sacrificed greatly to send me to Catholic school at Holy Family in Randallstown (along with my three sisters) where school days would start and end with prayer, we would attend Mass weekly, and later attend confession regularly. We would celebrate our Holy Mother with the living Rosary and May procession. Looking back it’s hard to find a memory that didn’t involve being at St. Joseph’s or Holy Family for something. 

As I grew older, I looked forward to being able to participate independently in Church. It started when I became an altar server. I loved altar serving. It kept me engaged in Mass by requiring of me a level of reverence that I may not have had otherwise sitting in the pews. I had to know exactly when the liturgy of the word was beginning and ending, recognize when the consecration of the Eucharist was taking place and be aware of the impending final blessing all while sitting next to the altar in plain view of the congregation. The level of importance for the role grew when I was chosen to serve for special masses like the Triduum or serving for the consecration and dedication of St. Joseph’s new church building. 

After my days altar serving drew to a close (partly because the congregation couldn’t see Father Pat past me when I was holding the book for him), I looked forward to when I got to attend my first Catholic Youth Organization or CYO “Hang Out” night with the youth group the summer after my eighth grade year. I had several friends that were a year ahead of me and were already attending CYO. They would tell me how much fun they had throughout the year and about all of the exciting activities like white water rafting and hanging out after the actual meetings. I couldn’t wait to join. Attending my first meeting, I was hooked. After my first year as an attendee, I became one of the youth leaders. This group became my closest friends, some of whom I am still close with today. While certainly there was faith formation happening, I think more importantly it was a group of peers who all had a moral and value system rooted in the Catholic Faith. It wasn’t weird or unique to ask what Mass everyone was attending on Sunday. Going over to their houses, I wasn’t worried about illicit things happening (and I’m sure that relieved some stress for my parents as well). It was a faith community where I felt like I was welcomed. Within this group, I could be myself and it was a place where my  Catholic Faith was celebrated, practiced and where growth occurred. 

From Baptism through senior year of high school, I was surrounded by my Faith. It was present at home, with my friends, during most extracurricular activities like Boy Scouts and basketball, which both took place at St. Joseph’s. I was insulated to a certain extent and in a sort of bubble where my Catholic Faith was one in the same with my development into a young adult. This changed when I went to college. I attended Catholic University of America and what I found was that almost everyone I met was a  “Cradle Catholic.” But while everyone was “Catholic,” once they left their parent’s purview, practicing Catholicism was not a priority.  This was a fairly drastic change from what I experienced back home. I lived with five other guys, all raised Catholic, who never went to Mass. I found myself going to Mass alone sometimes which I had rarely experienced up until then. I think this is where I really began to “own” my Catholic Faith as an adult. I liked Mass. At this point, I wouldn’t say I LOVED it, but I liked it. I also knew that if I talked to my mom or dad and they asked “Did you go to Mass this weekend?” I didn’t want to have to say “no” or, worse yet, lie about it. My freshman year I went every Sunday. I attribute this desire to commit to going to Mass every week to my parents. They instilled in me that Mass was to be prioritized. We never missed Mass, at least not that I can remember. Not for vacation, not for sports tournaments, rarely for sickness. When I got to college and felt a little isolated and home sick, I knew Mass felt like “home.” Spending that time listening to the Word and receiving Jesus made those feelings disappear and I felt rejuvenated. Throughout my years at Catholic there were times of moral struggle, physical struggle and stress, but Mass kept me tethered to what’s important. Mass, accompanied with fairly regular confession, kept me from ever straying too far away from God’s Will for me. I don’t know how things would have turned out without that foundation, but I saw plenty of young adults struggle and I truly believe that had they stayed closer to the Faith, they would have fared better. 

Now, as a married adult with three young kids, I’ve established my own Catholic Faith community. One of the important steps for me was finding a Catholic spouse. This was a Faith tradition passed onto me by my parents and I will pass, God willing, to my kids. I believe a crucial step to have my kids continue to practice the Faith into adulthood is having my wife and I practice the Faith together in unison, establishing it as the  foundation for our marriage and journey through parenting. We are members of a local parish where we participate in Children’s Liturgy, Knights of Columbus, the King’s Men (the group responsible for putting on the retreat mentioned earlier). Our kids attend the parish’s Catholic school where they’ll be entering pre-K, 4th, 5th and 6th grade. We attend Mass every weekend, even on vacation and if there is a friend who is visiting or spent the night, we take them with us. I coach football for the school and try to instill Catholic Values to the kids through both word and action. I have seen how creating  and being a part of a Catholic community has blessed and benefited me and my family growing up and now the family with which I have been blessed. My parents being active and invested in the Catholic community and sharing that participation with their kids is why I continue to practice my Faith and desire to continue that practice with my family. 

Return to top of page

Further Reading

Guzman, Sam, and Dale Ahiquist. The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2019.

What it means to be a man or a woman is questioned today like never before. While traditional gender roles have been eroding for decades, now the very categories of male and female are being discarded with reckless abandon. How does one act like a gentleman in such confusing times?

The Catholic Gentleman is a solid and practical guide to virtuous manhood. It turns to the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church to answer the important questions men are currently asking. In short, easy- to-read chapters, the author offers pithy insights on a variety of topics, including:

  • How to know you are an authentic man
  • Why our bodies matter
  • The value of tradition
  • The purpose of courtesy
  • What real holiness is and how to achieve it
  • How to deal with failure in the spiritual life

Lewis, Robert. Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father’s Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Focus on the Family Publishing, 1997.

The author suggests that the concept of knighthood can be used to illuminate what it means to be a man, as well as describing concrete steps to get there. The medieval custom of manhood trained boys from an early age by equipping them with a masculine vision, a code of conduct, and a cause in which to invest their lives. Progress was celebrated by ceremonies in their honor. This book provides tools, methods and ideas for fathers as they strive to shape their sons into chivalrous, Godly men.

Meeker, Meg, M.D. Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons. New York, New York: Regnery, 2022.

“In Boys Should Be Boys, critically acclaimed author Dr. Meg Meeker helps parents restore the delights of boyhood and enables today’s boys to become the mature, confident, and thoughtful men of tomorrow. Boys will always be boys—rambunctious, adventurous, and curious, climbing trees, building forts, playing tackle football, all part of the rite of passage into manhood. But today our sons face an increasingly hostile world, one that doesn’t value the spirited nature of boys. Meeker explores the secrets to boyhood to create an uplifting guide to make raising sons a little easier.”

Meeker, Meg, M.D. Strong Fathers Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Needs to Know. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2006.

“Drawing on her thirty years’ experience practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine, teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker explains why an active father figure is maybe the single most important factor in a young woman’s development. In this invaluable guide, Meeker shows how a father can be both counsel and protector for his daughter as she grows into a spiritually and mentally strong young woman. From cradling his newborn to walking her down the aisle, a father must relish his paramount responsibility—guiding the course of his daughter’s life. Meeker reveals:

  • How a man can become a “strong father”
  • How a father’s guidance influences every part of a woman’s life, from her self-respect to her perspective on drugs, alcohol, and sex
  • How to lay down ground rules that are respected without creating distance in your relationship with your daughter
  • Why you need to be your daughter’s hero
  • The mistakes most fathers make—and the serious consequences
  • How to help daughters make their own good decisions and avoid disastrous mistakes
  • How a father’s faith will influence his daughter’s spiritual development
  • How to get through to you daughter, even during her toughest don’t-talk-to-me years
  • True stories of daughters who were on the wrong path—and how their fathers helped to bring them back”

Return to top of page

 

Next Steps

Ready to Take the Next Step?

How can we commit to sexual self-control?  Study, Prayer and Practice!

📖 Study

There is a short article on the Founders Ministries website entitled “A Faithful Husband” (A Faithful Husband – Founders Ministries) that provides excellent suggestions for husbands looking to learn how to better serve and encourage their wives.

The website Focus on the Family contains many resources for those fathers and husbands looking for guidance on supporting their family. In particular, the website provides sections on both focusing on marriage relationships (How to Encourage and Support Your Spouse – Focus on the Family) and on raising children (Parenting – Focus on the Family).

There are numerous Bible verses that speak directly to us about how to be good husbands and fathers. These include the following:

  • “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” – Ephesians 5:25

  • “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” – 1 Peter 3:7

  • “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” – Ephesians 5:33

  • “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” – Matthew 19:6

  • “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” – Hebrews 13:4

  • “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” – Romans 12:10

  • “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4

  • “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.” – Colossians 3:21

  • “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

  • “Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.” – Proverbs 14:26

  • “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” – Deuteronomy 6:6-7

  • “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” – Proverbs 13:24

  • “The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.” – Proverbs 20:7

Taken from: 30 Powerful Bible Verses About Being A Good Husband (Full Commentary) – Bible Study For You, and 

30 Powerful Bible Verses About Being A Good Father (Full Commentary) – Bible Study For You

💖 Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for the gift of fatherhood and the privilege of guiding and protecting the lives entrusted to me. Grant me wisdom to lead with integrity, patience to nurture with love, and strength to stand firm in times of challenge.

Help me to be a safe place for my children, a source of encouragement, comfort, and unwavering support. Teach me to listen with understanding, speak with kindness, and act with compassion.

May my example point them toward truth, faith, and hope. And when I fall short, give me the humility to seek forgiveness and the courage to grow.

Bless my family with unity, joy, and peace, and let my legacy be one of love that reflects Your heart.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

From an internet search: prayer for fatherhood – Search

✝️ Practice

The Catholic Review website (catholicreview.org) provides a list of 10 practical steps we can take to become a better Catholic dad. There is a narrative with each step which provides details and rationale behind the recommended practice. There is also a biblical reference for each step, linking the teachings of the Catholic Church to each recommendation. The ten steps are:

  1. Keep holy the Lord’s Day — and all those other days (Ex 20:8) – Our kids notice when we have our priorities straight, when we sing, pray, and actively participate in our faith communities.
  2. Teach your children faith (Jn 20:29) – Faith is learned best by example, and it requires genuine belief. It requires surrender. And the single best way to raise children who have unshakable faith in God is to teach them that there are things they can trust and believe in unconditionally — like their dads.
  3. Don’t forget forgiveness (Mt 18:21-22) – The accountability our faith has taught us requires us to admit to our children when we are wrong, ask their forgiveness when we mess up, and show them that we and their mothers forgive, and ask forgiveness of, each other all the time. 
  4. Give and let give (Prv 28:27) – Let your children see you giving, and talk with them about why you give and why giving is important.
  5. Play and have fun (Lk 18:16-17) – One path to revealing the beauty of Catholicism is allowing kids to experience it on their terms.
  6. Get caught praying (Lk 11:1) – Praying together as a family teaches our kids that we’re all in an ongoing relationship and conversation with God. And that the conversation requires them to talk as well as to listen.
  7. Be “Mr. Doesn’t- Know-It-All” (Ps 139:5-7) – “I don’t know” is a legitimate answer, but the real grace comes in what we say next: “Let’s look it up together.” There is something special about finding answers with our children. Those are the lessons that stick.
  8. Might for right (2 Cor 13:7-8) – It can be challenging to point out to our kids that the poor choices publicized in popular culture go against our values as Catholics, particularly if the celebrities in question are on posters decorating their bedroom walls.These are the moments that separate the men from the boys in fatherhood, the defining conversations that distinguish us as parents rather than playmates. These are the times that we not only teach what the word “integrity” means, but show our children that we have it.
  9. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine (Mt 5:14-16) – It’s important to remind our kids that — whatever their gifts — they’re created in God’s image, and their gifts are to be celebrated, used and cherished.
  10. Traditionnnnn! Tradition!” (1 Cor 11:2) – The “sacramentals”, such as Holy water, statues of saints, ashes on the forehead, are what make us uniquely Catholic. They give comfort, grow faith and are very much worth preserving. Passing on these rituals to our children — not just by rote, but by practice — teaches them that being Catholic means that they are part of deep and long-held traditions. And it teaches them that, as Catholics, they will never be alone.

Taken from the Catholic Review website, 10 things that make for a great Catholic dad – Catholic Review

Return to top of page