Today we celebrate Father’s Day, so I do want to extend my blessings and thanks to all the fathers in the parish. I hope that you have time to celebrate with your family today. However, I also hope that you take some time today to recommit yourself to being an outstanding Catholic father, and that begins by assessing how effective you are being at being fathers for Christ.

The sad truth is that large number of men are failing at their duties as Catholic fathers. There is a growing “man crisis” in the Catholic Church. Only one in ten Catholic men are Committed Catholic Men who practice their faith and are committed to pass the faith along to their children and actively evangelize others. While the faith of a mother is very important, research indicates that the faith of the father has more influence on if a child will continue in the faith as they reach adulthood.

There are a lot of way in which we can analyze Catholic fatherhood, but the easiest is to look at how Catholic men live out truth and mercy as fathers. Truth is the objective truth revealed to us by Jesus Christ and passed along in its fullness by the Catholic Church. Mercy is the essential call to show love and compassion to others, putting their highest good above all else. 

From this we get four basic combinations, or types, of fathers. First, the CINO (Catholic-in-Name-Only) father who is low in both truth and mercy. The CINO father does not practice their faith in any meaningful way, and they do not engage themselves in their children’s live; focusing more on their own careers and hobbies.

The Authoritarian Catholic father is high in true but low in mercy. He places a high priority on the rigid practice of the Catholic Faith in the family – attending Mass, going to Confession, praying the Rosary, reading the Scriptures. However truth without mercy is sterile and becomes an infertile Catholicism; a religion of rules without compassion or joy. Research shows that one essential ingredient to successfully transmitting the faith to children is for the father to have a loving relationship with his children, engaging in their lives.

The Permissive Catholic father is low in truth but high in mercy. He has a special and tender commitment to showing mercy to his children. He is active in their lives and their interests. However, the Permissive Catholic father tends to be over-indulgent, believing in cafeteria Catholicism, letting his children pursue religion on their own. He does not go to Church often. His is a false mercy, for mercy without truth lacks the guiding influence and grace of the Catholic sacramental and moral life.

Finally there is the Committed Catholic father who is high in both truth and mercy. He attempts to live out fully both the truth and mercy of Jesus Christ in a balanced way. The Committed Catholic father is not only highly devout in his commitment to know Jesus, but he also enthusiastically leads his family in prayer, Scripture reading, participating in the Sacraments, and catechesis about the faith. He engages in his children’s lives and interests, but also in encouraging them to have their own encounter with Jesus Christ. He relies on the supernatural power from the graces on the sacraments and his own efforts in the never-ending ascent towards living the perfect balance of Christ’s truth and mercy in all his dealings with his family.

This Father’s Day, every Catholic father should recommit himself to his essential obligation to bring his children to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. Here are four concrete steps that every Catholic father can take now.

First, recommit to being a Committed Catholic father. You first made that commitment at your children’s baptism. If you have been lax or failed to live this commitment in the past, repent and ask God to give you the grace to do a better job from this moment on.

Second, begin practicing the basics of Catholic fatherhood now. Here is a short list of essential Catholic practices: daily examination of conscience, praying as a family regularly, keep the Sabbath holy by going to Mass every Sunday as a family and as a family share what spoke to you at Mass each week, engage in regular acts of mercy and charity, go to Confession at least once a month, and regularly get together with other Committed Catholic fathers.

Third, grow in wisdom as a Catholic father. Fatherhood is learned. Here are some solid examples of apostolates for Catholic fathers: Dads.org, Fathers for Good, Fathers of St. Joseph, Fraternus, and Way of the Father.

Finally, build an ethic Catholic fatherhood in the parish. The Holy Name Society and the Knights of Columbus are two good groups of Catholic men, most of whom are fathers. A few men in the parish go over to Corpus Christi Parish on Saturday mornings to participate in “That Man Is You.” 

This Father’s Day, regardless of the falterings of the past, each man can be a new creation in Christ, becoming a Committed Catholic Father who fulfills his solemn promise and leads his children to Christ Jesus and His Holy Catholic Church.