For Dads: With the Heart of St. Joseph

Parenting with Authentic Love:  Joseph and the Vocation of Protector
…how much fathers could glean from the example of Joseph, a righteous man, who dedicated his life to supporting and protecting the Child and his wife — his family — in difficult times.  Pope Francis, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, 17 December 2014.

We know little about the day to day parenting of Mary, and yet she provides us with a model of faith and a model of motherhood to which we can aspire (Parenting with Authentic Love:  Behold your Mother, WNR, October 2016).  We know even less about the day to day life of Joseph, yet we know God’s plan entrusted the earthly life of his son to the care of a family.  What can Joseph’s example tell us about fatherhood?

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Some have described the crisis of child abuse in our culture, and especially within our Church, as a crisis of fatherhood.  Clergy who abused or did not protect children and youth did not fulfill their vocational role as spiritual father.  Many families in our world today are missing fathers to follow the example of St. Joseph as protector and guide.  More and more young people find themselves lost in their search for The Father and vulnerable in their search for love and connectedness.  This session examines the role of fathers in protection, resiliency and healing, follows the model of Saint Joseph in fostering Spiritual Fatherhood, and provides strategies to cultivate spiritual fatherhood for all  children.  
For more information contact the Diocesan Child Protection Office at [email protected] or your parish Safe Enviornment Coordinator.