Dearest friends, an ordinary but a seemingly common understanding of who a father is, is simply, he who is directly involved in the biological bringing into the world a child/children.
Not only that people seem to have only the above as the understanding of who a father is, but also, those who are fathers, more often than not, tend to settle only at the above understanding of who a father is.
However, the central characteristic of FATHERHOOD which many tend to sweep under the carpet is RESPONSIBILITY. Therefore, we can say that: a father is he who accepts and lives up to the total RESPONSIBILITY of the welfare of his child (children). Moral Theology calls this responsibility Duty to the Child/Children. This duty includes, but not limited to, health, feeding, clothing, shelter, education, religious/moral formation, security, recreation, etc.ย If one claims to be a father but is not fulfilling the above duties, then, his fatherhood is simply QUESTIONABLE.
The truth that we must highlight here is that, to some extent, a father’s respect from his children is dependent on how far he carries out the above duties.ย If he is found wanting, then he may likely lose his respect from the children and vice versa.
Finally, anybody who must be worthy of the name FATHER must emulate the shining examples of ST. JOSEPH, the Foster Father of Jesus Christ; who was truly RESPONSIBLE.
Please, dear fathers, do not allow yourselves to be IRRESPONSIBLE๐๐ฝ
Happy Fathers’ Day to all our FATHERS out there! You people are really the BEST๐ฅฐ
Remain blessed๐๐ผ
