The Cathedral Administrator of St. William’s Cathedral, Lafia, Very Rev. Fr. Stanley Aroh, has urged men to identify distractions affecting their divine mandate to live as responsible family heads.
In a homily on Sunday during this year’s father’s day celebration, Fr. Aroh said fathers are the strength of the Church and society due to the responsibility they hold as heads of the homes.
He said to be a responsible father in today’s world is to be a man of truth, warning against the “culture of shortcut”.
“Every father must bring life not lies, no corruption, no cheating. Some fathers today are teaching their children the ways of corruption and anger. A responsible father guides, corrects, and leads by example.
” The abbreviation of “FATHER” stands for: faithful, available , teacher, helper, exemplary and responsible.
According to him, ‘faithful’ demands Keeping promises to God, spouse, and children, “available” means being physically and emotionally present for the family while “teacher” is taking the lead in the moral and spiritual education of children.
“Helper” is stepping in to assist with household burdens and chores, “exemplary” means living a life that children can safely imitate and “responsible” demands taking full ownership of the family’s physical and spiritual provision.
Fr. Stanley while acknowledging the heavy, often invisible burdens fathers carry, cautioned against spiritual absence, saying a father who provides a paycheck but withholds his presence is leaving his family’s foundation unfinished.
Reflecting on the 1st reading (Acts 6:1-7), he said the apostles of Jesus Christ refused to let administrative distractions hinder their primary mission, thus they appointed seven men filled with the Holy Spirit to take care of food distribution.
He, therefore, challenged men of the parish to identify their distractions from the divine mandate being it for possible solutions.
He admoinshed fathers to be the smaller stones built upon Christ.
“A responsible father does not complain about the weight of his duties; instead, he takes his worries to the Lord, stops the cycle of negativity, and chooses to lead with a spirit of service”, he added.
Fr. Stanley reminded the congregation that while family pressures are real, Jesus’ words in the Gospel (John 14:1-12) provided the blueprint that responsibility does not mean carrying the world on their shoulders alone; it means doing what they can with integrity and leaving the rest with God.
The Catholic priest called on them to take full ownership of the family’s physical and spiritual provision and prayed God to
strengthen the hands of all responsible fathers as well as help those lacking in their duties to do more.
