A Sunday Thought About Being a Father

One of the joys of beginning a New Year comes from beginning again to read The Rule of St Benedict. We've talked about this masterwork many times before, but as a reminder, the tradition in Benedictine monasteries for centuries has been to read The Rule three times a year. Indeed, it is broken up into exactly the number of chapters and sub-headings that allow for such a reading. And so as the New Year begins, we take up our reading again with chapter 1, proceeding now to chapter 2 and the reading for Friday, January 10th, which brings us to today's subject: being a father.

Those of you who are fathers note please that your fatherhood never ends. So whether you're overseeing a brood of young-uns, teenagers, or adult children, don't for a moment think that the inevitable increase in your children's ages changes one single thing about your being a father to them. Yes, they may not need you to drive them around anymore when they're adults, and you may no longer be responsible to feed and clothe them when they've taken on employment and eventually moved out of the old homestead. But you being their father never ceases, which brings us back to The Rule, and Friday's reading that perfectly nails a most fundamental aspect of our being fathers. As you read this, simply replace the figure of the Abbot - a name derived from "Abba" which means "father" - with yourself, as father of your children, and the monastery with your family and your home. St Benedict's remarks are both daunting and encouraging:

...he is believed to be the representative of Christ in the monastery, and for that reason is called by a name of his, according to the words of the Apostle: Ye have received the spirit of adoption of sons whereby we cry Abba, Father. Therefore the abbot ought not to teach, or ordain, or command anything which is against the law of the lord; on the contrary, his commands and teaching should be infused into the minds of his disciples like the leaven of divine justice. Let the abbot remember always that at the dread Judgement of God there will be an examination of both these matters, of his teaching and of the obedience of his disciples. And let the abbot realize that the shepherd will have to answer for any lack of profit which the Father of the family may discover in his sheep. On the other hand, if the shepherd have spent all diligence on an unruly and disobedient flock and devoted his utmost care to the amending of its vicious ways, then he will be acquitted at the Judgement and may say to the Lord with the prophet: I have not hid they justice within my heart: I have declared thy truth and they salvation; but they have despised and rejected me. And so at last, for these sheep disobedient to his care, let death itself bring its penalty.

St Benedict was a wise master. He understood human nature and wasn't shy about explaining the responsibilities of those in authority, those to whom people look for good example. Fathers, even as their authority wanes when the kids grow up, remain examples, and, yes, our standard will always be Jesus Christ. Daunting? Yes. But encouraging too, since we know that Our Lord will provide the graces necessary for us to live up to our responsibilities, to provide the good example our children need now and will always need from us.

St Benedict, pray for us that the New Year brings us all the graces we need to be good fathers to our children.