Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:01 Okay.
Speaker 1 00:01 Well today we're going to take a a look at one of the fundamental factors contributing to the crisis in the church and in the corresponding Christ and society. And then we'll spend just a few minutes talking about remedy. Okay? What's the problem?
Speaker 0 00:16 Okay.
Speaker 1 00:18 Within the church today, there's an almost complete absence of spiritual fatherhood. For example, does it take much looking to notice a lot of moral behavior, moral misbehavior on the part of many Catholics today? But given that when's the last time most Catholics have heard any priest anywhere warn anyone that they're going to burn in hell if they die before they repent, confess each and everyone of their mortal sins, mortal sins like skipping mass on Sunday or using contraception or supporting pro-abortion politicians or smoking dope or getting drunk or looking up porn or very hatred towards someone in their hearts. Where's the spiritual fatherhood? And given that there aren't many sins worse than liturgical abuse, when's the last time anyone heard of any bishop anywhere suspending any priest for any liturgical abuse? Where's the spiritual fatherhood? We need spiritual fatherhood. If the men who are supposed to be spiritual fathers are busy practicing spiritual contraception, so to speak, well then they can't be and they won't be spiritually fruitful. Spiritually sterile fathers can't produce vocations. God never changes. Never this so-called vocations crisis is a fatherhood crisis.
Speaker 0 02:06 <inaudible>
Speaker 1 02:09 okay, let's take a few minutes to consider the corresponding problem in society. Just read a few statistics. Quote, children who grew up fatherless are eight times more likely to go to prison, five times more likely to commit suicide, 20 times more likely to have behavioral problems, 20 times more likely to become rapists. 32 times more likely to become runaways. 10 times we're likely to abuse chemical substances. Nine Times you are likely to drop out of high school. One 10th is likely to get A's in school. Close quote. Here's a few more statistics taken from national fatherhood initiative. Census Bureau and the FBI quote, father deprived children are 72% of all teenage murders. 60% of all rapists, 70% of all kids incarcerated twice as likely to quit school 11 times as likely to be violent. Three out of 14 suicides, 80% of the adolescents in psychiatric hospitals and 90% of Reynolds. Close quote, final statistic. A Duke University study shows that compared with daughters from two parent homes, a girl is about five times more likely to lose your virginity by age 16 if she stops living with her dad before she six and twice as likely if she stops living with him at six or older.
Speaker 1 03:48 Okay. The point is we're suffering a crisis, a crisis of biblical proportions with respectable spiritual and natural fatherhood.
Speaker 1 04:00 So what's the remedy for we get onto this? I want to recommend one pamphlet and one book to every father here. Every one of the young man here who have a location, married life pamphlets available from 10 books. It's titled Saint Joseph Fadiman. Fatherhood reflections on the miracle, the son, Saint Joseph Fadiman Fatherhood. It's one of these little booklets he can stick in your back pockets. Not that big, but it's got a lot of good stuff in it. Books written by Steve Wood. Uh, it's full of common sense. It's called legacy, a father's handbook for raising godly children. So one pamphlet, one book we have to study for our vocation. So don't expect any sympathy for us on that one little pamphlet. One little book aren't asking a lot. Okay. I've put them in the bullet. And one more comment for we turn to the remedy. It's easy to hack in our current environment, men and fathers, everybody seems to be doing it this day.
Speaker 1 05:02 Uh, it's, it's fashionable. Uh, you know, we're, we overrun with feminism, but we don't need to keep a historical context in mind. There are a host of factors here. I'm just going to spend a moment to mention one that seems to be overlooked by a lot of people and that contributed the modern situation that's war. In the past hundred years, we've masked, heard young men at a rate never before seen in the history of the world. According to historical outlets of the 20th century, there were 42 million military personnel killed in the last century. It's some 40 million young fathers and potential fathers stuffed into the meat grinder. It's not the only condition that led to the current situation, that's for sure. We've talked about lots of this before, but it's had a profound impact. Just one anecdote to illustrate the kind of impact takes place in England. One hazy morning in 1917 the senior mistress at burn mouth high school for girls stood up in front of the assembled sixth form and announced to her hushed audience. I have come to tell you a terrible fact. Only one of 10 of you girls can ever hope to marry. This is not a guess of mine. Is it a statistical fact? Usually all the men who might have married you have been killed. You'll have to make your way in the world as best you can.
Speaker 1 06:41 60 years later, one of our students wrote, it was one of the most fateful statements of my life. How right she was. Only one out of every 10 of my friends has ever married. Quite simply, there was no one available. We had to face the fact that our lives would be stunted. We should never have the kind of happy homes in which we ourselves been brought up. There'd be no husband, no children, no natural bond of man and woman. It was going to be a struggle. Indeed. Close quote.
Speaker 0 07:15 Hmm.
Speaker 1 07:18 So a significant contributing factor to the situation is this worldwide fatherhood vacuum created by the loss of some 40 million men last century.
Speaker 1 07:32 Okay. So that's just one thought regarding the context. What's the remedy? Well, there's a fundamental principle of the spiritual life that is grace, perfect nature, crazy, perfect nature. Grace works on what we have naturally. So if we don't have manly priests, the priests aren't real spiritual fathers. A large part of the problem lies at the level of nature, not the level of grace. The problem is rooted. Nature means ultimately both crises. The crisis was spiritual fatherhood, the church as well as the Christ with father. The state are ultimately rooted in the family. That's where men come from. To put it the other way around. If we have good fatherly priests and manly bishops, it's because we have good dads. If we have an orderly, god-fearing society, a decent place to live, relatively happy wives and well behaved children in a significant number of the people living in a state of grace, it's because we have good dads.
Speaker 1 08:43 Remedy is good dads. It's impossible to overemphasize that point just is the order in all human society hinged off our common father, the father of all mankind, Adam, so also the order in the human society called the family, which is the foundation of the state and it's the source for the men of the church. The order in the family hinges off dads. That would be scary if Christ hadn't cone to make all things new, but precisely because Christ has renewed and restored. The headship of man made it possible for mankind to be your store to the state of sanctifying grace, which was lost by Adam. He made it possible to obtain actual graces to reform our duties in our state in life, and even gave specific special Sacramento graces for men and a State of Holy matrimony to be godly husbands and fathers. Precisely because all these gifts of Christ our Lord, every husband and father should be filled not only with hope for the legitimate pride in and thanks gimme for his conformity to Christ.
Speaker 1 10:04 We actually publicly express this every day right here at holy mass. That's the whole point of taking your hat off when you come to mass. Traditionally, Jewish men had to cover their heads with a prayer shawl when they went in the temple or synagogue faculty, they still do. But we uncover our heads because the mystery of our redemption has been revealed to us. That's what revealing means for them means taken off the veil. It comes from a Latin word who'd been taken off the Vail unveiling. The history of our redemption has been revealed to us. Our headship has been restored in Christ. When a Catholic man comes before the alter to pray with his head uncovered, it's a liturgical acknowledgement of Thanksgiving to the father from whom all fatherhood and heaven and earth is named Thanksgiving for this priceless gift of having revealed the mystery of the sin of God to us for this priceless gift of having given us the spirit of adoption as sons who have priceless gift of having restored our headship in Christ.
Speaker 1 11:13 So the remedy is good dads, maybe that sounds like an exaggeration. I'll read an edited quote from Steve Wood's book here. Quote, millions of Catholic children grow up and fall away from regular church attendance in the United States. It is estimated that only 13% of 18 to 29 year olds believe they must obey the formal teachings. The pope now he's running in 2005 it has to be worse. Now in England, 92% of Catholic young people stop practicing their religion when they leave school. In Australia, official church figures report 95% of teens who attend Catholic schools leave the church.
Speaker 1 12:06 The cure for this massive church dropout is dad. Research shows that if a father attends church regularly, he conveys a lasting lesson to his children. A Swiss study asks the question, what causes a person's faith to carry through from childhood to adult religious belief and practice? The study found that the one overwhelming critical factor is the religious practice of the father. Dads determine the church habits of their children and thus to a significant degree, their eternal destiny. Cat Mom also do this. Shockingly, the study reported that if a father does not go to church, no matter how faithful his wife's devotions, only one child and 50 will become a regular worshiper. Yet, if a father does go regularly, regardless of the practice of the mother, between two thirds and three quarters, their children will become church goers. Close quote Steve Wood.
Speaker 1 13:15 Well, even if those statistics are off play a factor, it's still a very significant result. Here's some concrete advice for every day I'd here first I want to say something to the wise sheets. This is man to man. No elbowing, no nudging, no smirks, no little coughs or anything. I'm holding you up before the Lord. I mean that so that it's, it'd be a cheap shot. Your father sitting him, you don't get to, okay, dad's at the natural level. Let's talk about that and let's, it's impossible. Eat with your family every day, every meal possible. Be The dad. It forced the discipline.
Speaker 1 14:01 Hug your little girls and rest with your little boys and make it part of your schedule to do something regularly with your kids. Well. That means going for a walk, a hike, taking them fishing, bike riding, shooting, whatever, besides regular recreation with them. Unless you're working two jobs, find some kind of work you can do with them on Saturdays and evenings. Not Sundays, not Sundays. If you can't figure anything else od, invent something like painting the fence or painting the garage or painting the house. Don't worry so much about everything being perfect. Who Cares? You can redo it. You can paint over it again. It's a means to an end. You're actually in the business of raising virtuous kids, not worrying about details. The house trim,
Speaker 1 14:53 eat with your kids, play with your kids, work with your kids. All three of those. It's really important that eat with your kids, play with your kids, work with your kids. Level of grace. You had to lead a serious Catholic life. That does not mean being an imitation priest. That's our department will take care of it. You have to pray for us, but that's our job. Your Dad's a serious Catholic life means living in the state of grace, keeping the commandments, enforcing the laws of God in your house, going to confession regularly, being a good Catholic example. You're the man they're looking up to in the home. What are they looking up to? If you're not going to confession regularly and leading a good Catholic life, don't expect your kids to at least not for long and don't expect your kids to spend eternity in heaven either.
Speaker 1 15:59 That may sound harsh, but that's the way it is in terms of prayer. Pray the rosary every day. Live that message of Fatima. Make sure the rest of the family praise rose your everyday. Our Lady wasn't bored in heaven and wondering what are they doing in Portugal today in 1917 if the blessed mother of God came down and gave us a message, who are we to ignore it? You make sure your family doesn't ignore it. Lead prayers at least at bed time and at meals and here before the altar when their men here, the women folks will appreciate you leading the roads for you for mass and you're set in the manly example. Give your kids a blessing every night before they go to bed. Moms can do this too. A father's blessing is different than a mother's blessing. They're real blessings. They're not the same as a priest blessing, but they're real blessing.
Speaker 1 16:49 You can bless your kids. He bless your grandkids, he can bless your God children. They're real blessings. So set the example with the virtuous Catholic life. Regular confession, praying the rosary and leading prayer. Finally, when your kids are little, you can establish something called the Dad Hour every Sunday starring dad. What is the dad hour? I have my direct do this. Dad sits a kids down. Pull out the Saint Joseph Baltimore catechism because it has cool pictures for little ones. You it's illustrated already, Huh? And then spend some time going through some of it. Then tell a story. Your read one about a saint with miracles or a Bible story or a story about a poor soul like he can get out of the books about purgatory or something about a great Catholic Warrior like the Knights, a mall to whatever. We've got the best stories and you need to pass in line. You need to be the dad. Pass them on so the kids heard them from you. We got the best stories but pass those stories on. Do it every Sunday. Obviously it doesn't literally have to be an hour. Depends on the kids, but it shouldn't be the dad 30 seconds. Okay. When you get to the end of the catechism, open it, page one, start over again. Over the years you'll go through it. Many times as you get older, we can recommend other catechisms. That's the data hour and it stars the One and only dad. Dads, if you don't do this, who will?
Speaker 1 18:24 That's why God and trusted you with your children. Any expects to see each and every one of them in heaven. That's your mission. That's why he made you the head of the family. You have to lead them there. You literally have a mission from God and only you can do it. You've gotta be the Dad. No one else can be. So who are you going to imitate? Adam or Christ?
