Where have all the Fathers gone?

This is the question which people are asking with ever-increasing frequency as day by day they see the telltale evidence of the low state to which the Australian father has fallen. Once upon a time, the father was the revered head of the household, to whom the children turned for guidance in all important decisions; he was respected for his wisdom and experience and loved for his devotion to his family. No event in the home was complete without his presence.

Now, however, the “father” has been supplanted by the saccharine “papa”, the namby-pamby “daddy”, the oafish “dad”, the futile “pop” and the belittled and rejected “old man”.

Much of the current literature on family relations seems to imply that the child's chief, if not his only, parent is the mother, while the father is relegated to the position of a mere breadwinner. 

In this section, you will find the true Catholic position on fatherhood, in addition to other matters relating to the Catholic family and Catholic marriage that may also be of value to fathers.  It is hoped that male readers can re-affirm or rediscover what it means to be a true Catholic father...

• What's Become Of Father?
  The modern father is the victim of a tragedy, as strange as it is ironic. In the very era when he is showering upon his family more provisions, gadgets and creature comforts than ever before in history, he is being shoved increasingly to the fringe of the family life. Engrossed in earning an abundant and even a superabundant living for his family, he is himself failing to live. He is missing out on the things worthwhile: intimate association with his growing children, twining his heart around theirs with the consequent understanding of the hopes and dreams, the heart-aches, the frustrations as well as the triumphs of each. Aren't these the experiences which constitute the distinctive joy and unique glory of fatherhood?
• How To Be A Real Father
  A REAL FATHER, when all is said and done, is a self unmade man. His goal in life is to attain the status of a nobody. The achievement at which he aims is to be no longer needed. His usefulness is complete when he has become, to all appearances, useless. His work, then, is done—and done superbly well. All this may seem odd, but it isn't odd at all. Everybody who is at the head of anything ought to be able to agree with it, and to say, “That's the story of my life.” And a father, after all, is at the head of the most fundamentally important thing on earth. The family. George Washington could count his job finished when the nation he fathered was ready to go on without him. It's that way with a father. When the family can do just fine without him, he has made the grade. He has risen to the highest height of fatherhood.
• In Praise Of Fathers
  MAYBE the women are right when, shaking their heads, they say, “This is a man's world.” But they have to admit that here in this America of ours practically all the credit goes to Mothers. Now in no sense should I wish to withdraw one least jot or tittle of their credit. Mothers are a glorious race. We love them and rightly grow romantic about them. But is that any reason that Dads shouldn't get an occasional break?
• Don't Swear Like That!
  Why, instead of bombarding God with requests to damn and destroy, which are certainly precarious processes, don’t we beg Him to shower the world with graces? Why are men and women eternally asking the merciful Father to damn someone or something or to send to hell the unoffending, the slightly annoying, and the thoroughly wicked?
• Sporting Catholicism
  I have become aware of the new brand of Catholic action: the League of St. Sporty. I have attended many meetings, lectures, study clubs, and discussions. The topics covered at such meetings ranged from unionism to the liturgy. These meetings, which are the necessary preliminary to any kind of social action, were almost always predominantly attended by women. The women are militant, zealous, and more than willing to do their share. The boys and men are, with but few exceptions, I find, in the St. Sporty League.
• Your New Leisure
  The greatest invention of the twentieth century is universal leisure. But leisure is like land, water and air. With leisure the important question remains: What are we going to do with it? And on that decision rests an appallingly large amount of the happiness or misery of the coming ages. For now as always the ancient saying is true: “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” Or, to change that slightly: Some people go to hell during their leisure time. At school or at work they are too busy to get into mischief. It is when they are on their own that temptation wallops them from the rear and they go out seeking whom and what they may devour.
• But Dear!
  Mature husbands and wives disagree; they do not fight. There is a difference—the difference between a happy marriage and one with an underlying fabric of tension and bitterness. Discussions of disagreements are the friendly way to reconcile different backgrounds and experiences so that you can work together to achieve your common goal. Fights tear apart the unity of marriage; they are the means each spouse uses to gain his own way without considering the other partner. They lead to name-calling, taking up of the past, a spirit of hatred. Therefore one of the most important ways to insure married happiness is to learn the art of disagreeing in a friendly way. You can acquire this skill by mastering nine principles.
• A Letter To Parents
  Some time ago a priest was addressing a group of First Communicants. Not a sound was heard except the priest's voice. There they sat, every tiny child of them, with hands clasped and their eyes riveted on the priest‟s face. This was what they wanted, you would say. This is what they longed for, God-hungry, Christ-hungry little souls. Their sinless hearts were thirsting for God, and here was this saintly priest opening up for them the plenteous fountains. They drank in every word. Unspoiled, pure themselves, they had fallen in love with the crystal purity of their elder Brother, and all they wanted was to hear about Him and to be allowed to love Him and imitate Him.
• A Second Letter To Parents
  I want to begin by talking to you about God's authority which is vested in you. Though we have had a good deal to say already on this head we make no excuse for our repetition. Why? Because the number of foolish, infatuated parents who fail to understand their responsibility seems to be alarmingly on the increase. Let me illustrate.
• A Third Letter To Parents
  Not so long ago an old man said to a friend of mine: “I’m more than fifty years married, and my wife and I love each other as much today as we did the first day we commenced life together.” He was proud of that and with good reason, and we want every married couple, as far as possible, to be placed in the same happy position. So, in this third Letter we propose to begin by setting forth a few hints about the bond of union which should link you, dear parents, with each other and with your children.
• Are You A Good Parent?
  Some years ago, a young man lay dying in a hospital — dying of a loathsome disease. In a chair by the bed of agony sat his helpless mother, a fallen-away Catholic who had not received the sacraments for years. Suddenly the dying youth raised his head and cried in terror, “Ma, pray with me!” She knew no prayers; she had forgotten them long since. Again he whispered hoarsely, “Ma, pray with me!” and dropped back on his pillow. He was dead. The next day the mother knelt before the altar. “O God,” she cried in anguish, “I have come back. When I could not pray with my dying boy, I felt the enormity of my crime.”
• Advice To Parents
  Saint Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorist Order, Bishop and Doctor of the Church expounds on the privilege and responsibilities of parenthood as a special vocation from God.
• Your Job As A Parent
• Parent And Child
• Questions People Ask About Their Children
• You Are Your Child's Best Teacher
• The Child From One To Heaven
• The Adolescent In The Modern World
• Between 13 and 20
• The Problem Of Youth
• Marriage For Keeps
• Whom God Hath Joined
• A Mixed Marriage
• Happiness In The Home
• The Vocation Of Parents
• Parents And Vocations
• Parents And The Vocation Of Their Children
• The Catholic Home
• The Christian Home - Part 1
• The Christian Home - Part 2
• Family Life Today
• The Duties Of Married Life
• Should Mothers Work?
• The Family And The Cross
• Consecration Of The Family To The Sacred Heart