{"id":28243,"date":"2023-06-16T11:53:43","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T15:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=28243"},"modified":"2023-06-16T11:53:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T15:53:43","slug":"hey-dad-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/hey-dad-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hey Dad."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mark, John, Philip (Fr. Tim’s dad), and Josephine Horan (Akron, OH, c. 1925)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

(please enjoy this previously published article by Father Tim)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Mother’s Day this tribute to fathers ran last year at this time. Why again? Well. . . it’s like dad’s brown shoes \u0016 he wore them day after day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s hard explaining Fathers. Each is different. Each father brings different skills with which they make their contribution. Some are handymen, fixing everything in the house. Some are sportsmen, sharing the love of outdoors, fishing, and hunting. Some make work their special skill.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here’s some things that all fathers share, or at least, I think they should.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today is your day. We\u2019re not too keen on these things, are we. Somehow it goes against what we see as our role as the \u201cwatch over person\u201d. We\u2019ve all seen holy cards of the Holy Family. There they are, Mary and the baby, front and center. Joseph is usually off to the side watching or standing over his wife and the child as protector. We like the background role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, we can sometimes \u201chide\u201d in the back when things get sticky or uncomfortable. When tears or disappointment come to the children, it\u2019s time for mom! She\u2019s the expert in handling emotions or significant events . . . birthdays, in\u0016laws, holidays, vacation plans, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what DO you do, dad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can I tell you what I\u2019ve seen you do? First off, you love your wife. She has the key to your heart. She is the one person who pulled you out of yourself when you were this whiney, selfish 20\/30 something. She helped you discover that \u201cto love\u201d meant to \u201clay your life down\u201d. You didn\u2019t know that until you met her. Now your job is to make her life a joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second thing is the children she gave you to hold. What profound stirrings you felt when each of your children looked up at you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere came that particular \u201cFather feeling\u201d that said, \u201cNo one will ever hurt this child so long as I am here. You are safe with me dear one . . . do you hear that world?!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What else do you do, Dad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You create a \u201cplace\u201d that is warm, safe, and fun. Yes, it\u2019s a place to live, but it\u2019s more than that. Your strength and love and watchfulness brings about a place in which your wife and children can blossom and grow. They don\u2019t have to worry, \u201care we okay here\u201d?. They\u2019re free from fear because you are there. You are like the house beams! \u0016 always there, quiet, holding things in place. The world is dependable . . . because you are dependable. You beat back the chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last on my list of things to thank you for is the fact that you didn\u2019t give into me when you knew I was headed in the wrong direction. I could bully mom into going along with some silly scheme I thought was really cool. \u201cWell honey, if it will make you happy.\u201d You wouldn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRethink that\u201d, you would say. \u201cThat\u2019s not what we taught you.\u201d You had several other sayings that went right to the heart of the matter. Things like . . . don\u2019t give up. . . you disappoint me (ouch!) . . . do it the right way, not the easy way . . . I\u2019m proud of you . . . don\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll be there. . . and (yes, dad you actually said this) . . . \u201cI\u2019m not your friend, I\u2019m your father.\u201d Dad, you saved us from our worst impulses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, you show us something of God the Father. Strong, present, watching, protecting, our rock. You gave us a \u201cplace\u201d of safety to discover who we are; you were strong enough to listen when mom knew us better. You gave up your crazy ways to be our dad. We are really glad you did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy Fathers Day, dad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We love you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Tim<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(please enjoy this previously published article by Father Tim) Like Mother’s Day this tribute to fathers ran last year at this time. Why again? Well. . . it’s like dad’s brown shoes \u0016 he wore them day after day. It’s hard explaining Fathers. Each is different. Each father brings different skills with which they make […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-column"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28243"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28245,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28243\/revisions\/28245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}