Father's Day - By Fr. John Corapi

As we prepare to celebrate Fathers' Day we should reflect a bit on what a father is. Today I'm afraid that there are a large number of people who can no longer relate to the reality or the concept of a father. This was not always the case as most marriages never suffered from the ravages of divorce. Many individuals today did not have the benefit of a father at home, or even in their life to any extent. 50%+ of marriages, including Catholic marriages, end in divorce. Single parent families are painfully common.

A human being needs both a father and a mother, male and female, to receive the fullness of nurturing, love, and support. One parent can try heroically to fill both roles, and do quite well, but it is never the same as when mom and dad fulfill their respective roles.

A father, along with a mother, obviously collaborate with God to bring life into existence. You will never know the eternal joy of Heaven without your father and mother saying yes to life. A father protects and supports his family. If evil in any form threatens his family a father must engage the evil and protect the family. This is true most of all spiritually, but also physically, emotionally, economically, and morally.

Dad has to fight many a battle to win the war of the salvation of the souls of his spouse and children. If dad doesn?t even know there is a war, where would that leave his family? How many sleepless nights fathers have had had worrying how to provide for mom and the kids? How many days he has come home from work bone tired, trying to provide a life for the family better than he had? How many deaths has he died agonizing over the welfare of each of his children?

Remember your father this Fathers' Day. Pray for him, alive or deceased. While you are doing this, hopefully through a day started with the Holy Eucharist, remember your priests, who are truly fathers in the spiritual sense. They too have expended a lot of 'blood, sweat, and tears' trying to insure the well-being of their spiritual children. Without the priest there is no forgiveness through the sacrament of Reconciliation. Without the priest there is no strengthening through the sacrament of Confirmation. Without the priest there is no anointing of the sick. Most of all, no priest no Eucharist?the Source, Center, and Summit of the Church's life. [emphasis added]

Let's pray for our fathers, both biological and spiritual, this Fathers' Day, and every day. We need them, and they need us.

God bless you,
Fr. John Corapi

Online version of this email can be found here.