“He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with perfect dignity.”
1 Timothy 3:4
This blog goes right along with yesterday’s blog on heroic Catholic families.
To become a heroic Catholic family, the change must come from the inside and work its way outwards.
I believe that this starts with the father.
The father supposed to be the head of the household.
He must take a stand and help his family to be heroic.
This job is not easy.
Fathers are not heroic on their own.
They must humble themselves and ask for Christ’s help.
It is a stressful and overwhelming job to be the leader of your family’s spirituality.
We must pray for fathers.
We must pray that fathers have the strength to lead their families to heroism.
Fathers are humans, and therefore are not perfect.
Many times fathers do fall short of their household head duties.
Even the most outstanding earthly father will fall short of his fatherly duties.
There is no father as perfect as God the Father.
Earthly fathers should look to God the Father as their guide.
He IS the perfect father and while it would be pretty much impossible for a person to attain perfection on earth, there is absolutely no harm in striving for it!
Fathers should love their wife and children as much as Christ loved the Church and as must as God loved His Son.
The father is the head of his wife and his family just as Christ is the head of the Church.
The father is supposed to sanctify and cleanse his wife. He is supposed to keep her from earthly harm that she might be holy and clean. (Ephesians 5)
I think that of the most important in this list of duties, is the duty to love.
It seems as though that is the duty that is hardest to complete.
It seems like the most prominent thing missing in our world today.
Love from our fathers.
Again, they are not perfect and they need us to pray for them to teach them how to love.
I did a research report in an English class about homes without fathers and I understand that it is slightly different just not having one’s father there physically as opposed to him not being there emotionally but still, the statistics were astounding. The children were far more likely to commit suicide, to be depressed, to get pregnant young, to drop out of school or not do well in school, and so the unfortunate list continues. And these results all because a father’s love was missing from the household.
For those families who are broken or to those who never felt the love of an earthly father, there is HOPE.
In Ralph Martin’s outstanding book entitled Hungry for God Practical Help in Personal Prayer, he says that “the distortion of fatherhood we may have experienced need to be healed by experiencing true fatherhood, the fatherhood of God Himself”.
There is hope and relief for those craving the love of the father.
And that relief is the ultimate Father.
God.
The Father of all.
The perfect Father who will show you all the love and attention that you crave and deserve.
If you feel like you were not loved by your earthly father as you should have been, I am sorry, I am so sorry.
You did not deserve to be treated in that manner.
You deserve to be loved and God the Father is more than willing to love you.
Just let him.
Run to him like a toddler learning to walk.
Fall; He will pick you up.
And when you reach Him, His arms will be wide open and you will fit perfectly into His firm and loving embrace.
Go.
BE LOVED.
It is because of the tragedy of the lack of love that we need to pray for families.
We need to pray that parents are able to work things out and keep their families intact.
We need to pray that fathers have the strength to LOVE their families and to be the heads of the household.
We can change the world as heroic Catholic families if the fathers are the loving heads and the wife and children follow.
I pray for you and your families. I pray that if you did not experience the love you should have as a child that you will pick up all your pain and hurt and bring it all to the FATHER. You can be healed. The healing, loving Father is ready for you.
This is one of my favorite songs. Seriously, I love a lot of music but because of these outstanding lyrics, this song has made it into my top 10 list. The lyrics are so pertinent to this day. The story about this song is that the lead singer, Matt Hammitt, was not being the head of his household. He was failing to love his family and failing to lead them. And it was because he was busy on tour with his Christian band! He was by the looks of it, doing nothing wrong, in fact, he was doing good! But he was neglecting his family which was far too great of a pain for him and his wife to bear. He and his wife agreed that something had to be done and divorce was not an option. Read the lyrics of the song and find out exactly what he did. I pray that fathers will follow his lead to the Father.
I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...
“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”
I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...
“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?
Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”
So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?
To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up
I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone
Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone
Sanctus Real - Lead Me
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