Today it’s the Father’s Turn.

Author: Padre Alejandro Cortés González-Báez  

 

 

Once again we arrive at another Father’s Day. It’s a season for sales and there is great joy in many families. On this day children have an opportunity to show gratitude to their fathers for all the good things their fathers have done for them. It must be said that Father’s Day has never reached the heights of Mother’s Day.
Having stated the above, it is surprisingly strange to have an inequality in the realm of social esteem, with regards to our mothers. In language, here in Mexico, we tend to say things like “It’s really padre or padrísimo” when a particular action or thing is of high value. It’s true that sometimes we use the term madre to express a similar sentiment, but many times it is used to express what is bad.
In my own situation, I have to confess that as a priest I have not been able to enjoy such gratifying and special experiences that come with having fathered children. The experiences of seeing them born, seeing them grow, seeing them play, seeing them develop and grow in their self-esteem, seeing them start their own families, all the things which turn their parents hair gray.
Similarly, we need to speak of the wonders of being married. From what I see and hear on a daily basis from many couples, I know that starting a family requires many sacrifices and much doing without. It’s all part and parcel of the decision to start a family.
To live for many years sharing everything with a single woman, has to be either heaven or hell depending on the woman, the man, the children, the relatives, a successful career, the physical and mental health of the couple, unforeseen social circumstances and a host of other things. Choosing a good partner seems at times as perilous as placing all your chips on the red seven in roulette.
But in spite of the sorrows, dedicating your life to all that’s involved in starting a family is worth all the investment and spending of our resources. If otherwise, life would, in turn, waste us needlessly. Solitude and loneliness are terrible because they empty our souls of positive feeling. Being alone is the worse possible human condition.
In the case of priests and many others like us who dedicate our lives to serving others in different ways the investment is not the same but still comforting.
It’s evident that this terrible loneliness can be defeated whether married or single, by our attitude and reaching out to others.
Marriage is a vocation of service. It is a solid and substantial form of surrender to another. Saint Paul called it “The Great Sacrament.” Why? Because committing yourself to love, committing yourself to the procreation of children requires much of what is divine.
Such commitments are highly demanding and therefore require various years to prepare. Improvising a good husband and a good father is not a matter of a two-week course.
Knowing how to be a good husband, knowing how to encourage children with strength and affection, and being consistently a good example is the essence of manhood. Surely, these men deserve a happy Father’s Day and much more.