I came across an article about a woman lawyer who is fighting for the rights of fathers whose children are with the mother, and can only visit them one weekend every two weeks. Her advocacy is to have the children spend more time with the father also. One weekend every two weeks is not enough. She has findings why father-child relationships are very important:

• The emotional wound of an absentee father leads to low self-esteem, self-doubt, and a lack of trust in others
• Sexual preference can be influence by the absence of a father
• The absence of security brought about by a father may lead to insecurity
• When God is called father, fatherless children could have a hard time identifying.

Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. He may have been mostly quiet in the Gospels, yet to be the husband of the most blessed among women and to be the foster father of the Son of God is one of the greatest privileges and honor.

Hence, in this Mass, we ask his intercession to our fathers:

• First, for all fathers, that they have the strength of provide, guide and be strong for the family. Often we take them for granted because we expect them to be strong. But how true is the song, “the Warrior is a child.” They too get hurt. They too are vulnerable. They too have weaknesses. They too commit mistakes.  Also, we pray that our fathers always give the best gift to their children – that is to love their mother.
• Second, for all with father wounds. You cannot change the past, but you can change the present and the future. There will be wounds that will be there until our deathbed. But hopefully, we will have the time, openness, humility to process this and eventually be healed. Otherwise, the victim becomes the victimizer.
• Third, we pray for all fathers in society. If you notice, masculinity is being downplayed, fatherhood is being downplayed, the role of the father is being made insignificant. If you have children you can make decisions on their body without the consent of the father, then society is trivializing the father. This is not only true to biological fathers, but also to spiritual fathers and any sort of authority.

In closing, we remember the quotation of St. Josemaria Escriva:  “One cannot love Jesus and Mary without loving the Holy Patriarch.” We ask St. Joseph to pray for our earthly fathers and spiritual fathers.