Bridging the Gap: 'Father Knows Best'
Times have changed since the old TV series, but Dad's role remains vital
By Bishop David Zubik
Among my favorite T.V. shows in the 1950's was the series, Father Knows Best, starring Robert Young and Jane Wyatt as Jim and Margaret Anderson, parents of three character children, Betty, James and Kathleen or affectionately called "Princess", "Bud" and "Kitten" by their T.V. parents. The comedy show reflected a "typical" family in the 1950's - the father was the center of the family and basically had the right to call all the shots.
Much has changed
Clearly much has changed to the family unit since then. Happily, in most families that are together, both fathers and mothers determine the best way to grow a household in sometimes traditional and sometimes untraditional patterns. The emergence of the model where the mom is the breadwinner and the dad is the househusband was almost unthinkable to the Father
Knows Best generation. Today, many moms and dads bear the responsibility to share all the household chores and the critically important duties of parenting.
Sadly, the family unit has suffered much with the rising number of divorces, the overly busy schedules of parents and children and sometimes the replacement of the family as a priority by an overemphasis on career as well as material wealth and societal status.
Within the context of this snapshot, this weekend we as a country celebrate the observance of Father's Day, traditionally set for the third Sunday of June. In the midst of picnics for our dads, together with greetings cards, (serious and funny alike), and the oft over-used gift of "yet another necktie", comes the opportunity to revalue the importance of the father, the dad, in our families and genuinely show our respect for the place of fathers in society and gratitude for the place of dads in our lives.
Our Father, Our Dad
As we pay tribute to our dads, it is just as important that we reflect on the importance of God the Father in our lives by praying over the importance of The Father, Our Father, in the life of Jesus. Scripture scholars will note that Jesus often referred to the Father with the colloquial Hebrew word, Abba, translated as "Daddy." So oftentimes as recorded in the Gospels, both in the Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospels and in the
Fourth Gospel (John), Jesus regularly connected with the Father in prayer.
As a people of faith, we learn from not only the rightful role of God the Father as the Creator of the world; but also that God is Father in an unheard sense: "He is eternally Father by His relationship to His only Son who, reciprocally, is Son only in relation to His Father: 'No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.'" (CCC #240, Mt. 11.27)
Staying connected
Thus as a people on the journey to God's kingdom in heaven, it is imperative and important that, like Jesus, we connect with our Father in heaven and that we never stop learning about Him from His Son, our Savior Jesus. We do this best in our prayer over the Scriptures. And like Jesus, it is so important that we likewise thank God as Father for all that He means to us and all that He does for us and all that He calls us to be by the power of His Grace.
However you and I spend Father's Day, and whatever it is we do to show our genuine thanks to our dads, living or dead, may the example of Jesus' love for His "Abba", His "Daddy," draw us to a deeper appreciation of our family dads as well as a deeper awareness of God, our Father in heaven.
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