“…Yet you do not have many Fathers…” FATHERHOOD, PRIESTHOOD, AND THE LAITY

 1. True Fatherhood is part of a package deal  2. The ways lay people experience Fatherhood has implications for how we relate to you as priests Spiritual Fatherhood:

 Take care of yourselves  Take care of us

The Package Deal Nicholas Townsend, 2002 Fatherhood cannot be separated from other elements of family life.

The Package Deal For most men, marriage is the linchpin in their roles as fathers –their relationship with their children very literally runs through their wives – the mothers of their children. They really can’t even envision fatherhood apart from marriage.

Husbands, love your wives…. Ephesians 5:25

 Please never neglect your prayer life.  Take time away from your parish or wherever you minister and go on retreat.  Spend time in Adoration.  Every once in a while just sit in the pew and remember what it was like to be at Mass before you were ordained  Spend time with your brother priests. Take care of yourself Take care of your Bride

Take care of yourself  Have a hobby or something you do just for yourself outside of your ministry  Take your vacations  Stay in shape – take care of your body and your mind  Develop friendships with both lay people and other priests.

“As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” – Proverbs 27:17 Take care of yourselves

Four Aspects of Fatherhood  Provision  Emotional Closeness  Protection  Endowment

Provision  Putting a roof over our heads and food on the table

Emotional Closeness  We want to love our priests  “Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers,” (1 Cor 4:15)  The shepherd with the “smell of the sheep”

He is the “God who is near” to his people, a nearness which culminates in his incarnation. He is the God who goes forth to meet his people…Nearness creates communion and belonging. It makes room for encounter” Pope Francis, Address to the Leadership of the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America, 3 (28 July, 2013)

Protection  Keeping safe from threats, fear, and dangers  Especially social and moral threats

Endowment  The things we hand down  Opportunities and character  Skills and discipline

Lay people are, put simply, the vast majority of the people of God. The minority – ordained ministers – are at their service. There has been a growing awareness of the identity and mission of the laity in the Church. We can count on many lay persons, although still not nearly enough, who have a deeply-rooted sense of community and great fidelity to the tasks of charity, catechesis and the celebration of the faith. At the same time, a clear awareness of this responsibility of the laity, grounded in their baptism and confirmation, does not appear in the same way in all places. In some cases, it is because lay persons have not been given the formation needed to take on important responsibilities. In others, it is because in their particular Churches room has not been made for them to speak and to act, due to an excessive clericalism which keeps them away from decision-making. Even if many are now involved in the lay ministries, this involvement is not reflected in a greater penetration of Christian values in the social, political and economic sectors. It often remains tied to tasks within the Church, without a real commitment to applying the Gospel to the transformation of society. The formation of the laity and the evangelization of professional and intellectual life represent a significant pastoral challenge. (Evangelii Gaudium, 102)

Endowment  Lead, Follow, Push…  Speak Truth  Call us to radical discipleship  Lead us into fuller participation in the life of the Church, and push us to be the people God calls us to be.