I look forward to Father’s Day every year. It gives me time to think about the role of father in our lives and the influence that each father has on laying the groundwork for his children in a myriad of ways that will guide them throughout their lives.
Of course, as an example, I turn to thoughts of my own beloved father, now long deceased, and the influence he had on my life and on my siblings. Dad and the other men who I knew as I grew up, cemented my perception and belief of what a father should be. Later in life, I learned that not all fathers were kind and loving as were those during my childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. A lack of good male role models can leave its mark on children who suffer from lack of self-esteem, addictions, and a host of other maladies that may be carried through life.
From my earliest years, I knew my father as a kind, gentle, and patient dad. He loved my mother deeply and expressed it in daily acts of kindness. He insisted that we show her love, honor, and obedience. We also learned to respect our elders, and those who visited us in our happy, faith-filled home.
Throughout my childhood, I observed my father teaching by example. We saw his daily cordial conduct, gentle politeness, easy neighbourliness, and the careful dance of when to act and when to desist.
As the years passed and we grew up and took our place in society, new generations arrived. I watch my brothers in action. They treat their wives and children with the same patience, love and kindness that my father portrayed. Suddenly, in this new millennium, another generation, tall and strong, is on the horizon. These lads also exhibit the traits that have been handed down from the generations of our fine forefathers.
How appropriate it is to set aside one special Sunday a year to honor hardworking, fine men who bear the name of Father – or just plain, wonderful DAD.
-Sister Jean Moylan, CSJ