Christ the Cornerstone

God’s fatherhood is the standard for earthly fathers

“The first thing needed is this, that the father be present in the family. That he be close to his wife, to share everything, joys and sorrows, hardships and hopes. A father needs to be close to the children as they grow up; when they are playing and when they are working on a task; when they are carefree and when they are troubled.” (Pope Francis, Our Father: Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer)

Sunday, June 20, is Father’s Day. May all fathers—and all who play a significant role in mentoring or caring for children—have a blessed Father’s Day!

The past year of pandemic has taught us a lot about the fatherhood of God. We have seen God’s patience, his presence to us, and his perseverance in the face of many obstacles to the health and well-being of his family. Some may ask: Where have we seen this? We’ve seen it in the faces of ordinary men and women who struggle to care for their children and families in spite of the global crises that have caused so much personal and societal hardship and so much economic distress.

Every good parent reveals to us something about the fatherhood of God. Every unemployed dad, every single mom, and every grandparent who takes on the role of primary caregiver provides us with an insight into the fatherhood of God.

Pope Francis says that God constantly reminds us that he cares for us. He is not absent—even when we struggle to feel his presence. God the Father provides for us. He protects us, and he guides us when we have lost our way. God’s fatherhood sets the standard for earthly fathers and for all who accept responsibility for helping young people grow into maturity.

In his catechesis on fatherhood, the Holy Father says:

Today we shall take the word “father” as our guide. It is a term dearer than any other to us Christians because it is the name by which Jesus taught us to call God: father. The meaning of this name took on new depth from the very way Jesus used it to turn to God and to manifest his special relationship with him. The blessed mystery of God’s intimacy, Father, Son and Spirit revealed by Jesus, is the heart of our Christian faith.

God’s intimacy—both within the Blessed Trinity and in his relationship with us—is expressed most powerfully in his fatherhood. This concept can be difficult to grasp in a society where fatherhood has been diminished, or even replaced, by forms of parenting that consider fathers to be anachronistic or unnecessary.

As Pope Francis says, “father” is a term that should be familiar to everyone. It indicates a fundamental relationship, the reality of which is as old as human history. Today, however, we seem to have reached the point of claiming that our society is a “society without fathers.”

In other words, particularly in Western culture, the father figure often seems to be symbolically absent, paled, removed. “At first, this was perceived as a liberation,” the pope says. “A liberation from the father-master, from the father as the representative of the law that is imposed from without, from the father as the censor of his children’s happiness and the obstacle to the emancipation and autonomy of young people.”

But no society can sustain itself with this negative understanding. True fatherhood is essential to the growth and development of children. Our families, and our society, need men who are patient, present and persevering in their commitment to their children and to all the young women and men entrusted to their paternal care.

On Father’s Day, we celebrate all the men who have responded generously to the blessings, and the challenges, of fatherhood. This is especially appropriate in this Year of St. Joseph, a man who freely chose to become a husband and father under very stressful and difficult circumstances. His fatherhood was a blessing to Mary and Jesus, and it continues to inspire and encourage all who serve as parents, foster parents or guardians for children and youth today.

“For the younger generations,” Pope Francis has said, “fathers are the irreplaceable guardians and mediators of faith in the goodness, of faith in the justice, and faith in the protection of God, like St. Joseph.” Let’s rejoice in our fathers, and let’s be sure to tell them how grateful we are for the irreplaceable gift of their fatherhood.

May St. Joseph inspire all who care for young people to look to the fatherhood of God to find the universal standard of fatherly care. May everyone who is called “father” exercise this sacred responsibility with humility and a profound sense of joy. †