| Politics

'We need fathers to understand that their work doesn’t end with conception'.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) – Like many fathers, I spent Father’s Day at home, surrounded by children, children "in law" and grandchildren. One of my favorite Psalms recounts the man who is blessed living to “see his children’s children” and so I have. (Psalm 128) Those who were unable to be present physically sent their love by way of the internet and by telephone. It was also a day for reflection, thinking about my own dear father who died in 2001, missing him and smiling through the tears.

Serving the altar as a Deacon I had the privilege of praying for all Father’s as the Eucharist was elevated and I beheld heaven touch earth. I prayed for all of our spiritual fathers and thanked God for the Holy Father’s decision to set aside an entire year for the faithful to pray for and support our priests. Before leaving for Mass I read these words from St Paul which I reflect upon every Father’s day: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."(Ephesians 3:14 - 19)

The Greek word for Father and family are connected. Paul uses them in a sort of play on words to make a profoundly important theological and existential point. Fathers are the foundation of families, they give them identity and meaning in both life and death. The Catholic Catechism says, “The divine fatherhood is the source of human fatherhood; this is the foundation of the honor owed to parents.” (CCC#2214) The Biblical understanding of naming someone was a far more significant action than our contemporary approaches to choosing a child’s name reveal. To confer a name was understood to confer both identity and an ongoing relationship between the parties. It still does. Fatherhood continues throughout the entire cycle of life reaching even beyond the grave.

Perhaps that is why I became so troubled when I read the President’s Fathers Day message, his words at the Town Hall Meeting following the Young Men’s Barbecue at the White House and his interview with Parade Magazine entitled 'I have been an imperfect father'. Please do not get me wrong. I am certainly pleased that President Obama takes his call to be a father to his beautiful daughters so seriously. From all I have read and what I see, he is a very good father. I am also deeply pleased that he is using the bully pulpit of the White House to encourage young men, indeed all men, to take their call to be fathers seriously. It is great that he is launching what his administration calls a “national conversation about fatherhood”, we need one. For all of this, he is to be commended and supported. However, I was once again absolutely befuddled by the continuing blind spot in the President’s compassion and empathy, children before birth.

In the Parade Magazine interview he told the interviewer: “…we need fathers to step up, to realize that their job does not end at conception; that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child but the courage to raise one. As fathers, we need to be involved in our children’s lives not just when it’s convenient or easy, and not just when they’re doing well — but when it’s difficult and thankless, and they’re struggling. That is when they need us most.” At the Town Hall meeting following the White House Barbecue for young men he said: “If we want our children to succeed in life, we need fathers to step up. We need fathers to understand that their work doesn’t end with conception -- that what truly makes a man a father is the ability to raise a child and invest in that child.”

What is implicit, actually what is explicit, is that President Obama, in emphasizing the ongoing obligations of fatherhood, also acknowledged that Fatherhood begins at conception. Such an admission brings with it an extraordinary implication; every intentional abortion constitutes the killing of some father’s son or daughter. Yes, his comments to the young men concerning the continuing obligations of fatherhood were helpful. But what are we saying as a Nation to all men through our current public policy concerning legalized abortion? Anyone who has counseled, prayed for or known a man who has allowed the mother of his child (or worse encouraged her) to seek an abortion, knows that there are three victims of this evil act. The mother, so often lied to, the child, innocent and deserving of life, and the father, who through his participation in the killing of his child is forever changed.

Let those who know the objective truth that every procured abortion is the taking of innocent human life continue to pray and work for the end of this brutality masquerading as a “free choice.” Let us increase our prayer for the mothers of children never born who, now or in the future, will mourn their loss. However, in the aftermath of Father’s day, let us resolve to pray for those fathers who through their action or inaction participated in something so egregious and evil that when they become aware of the truth it devastates them, and rightly so. They need our prayer as well.

Finally, let us pray for President Barack Obama to see the truth concerning the evil of every procured abortion. Science has confirmed what our conscience and the Natural Law have long told us, such intentional abortions are the taking of an innocent human life. Killing an innocent child in the first home of the womb is a horrid act for any father or mother to participate in. The conversion of this President who possesses such oratorical skills and exerts such a strong influence on so many to the truth concerning the Fundamental Right to Life and the humanity of the child in the womb would have an extraordinary influence on history. It would also add credibility to his message to fathers. A good father should never participate in the killing of his children.