Happy Father’s Day: Persevere in being men for others

By Kevin Sprehe
NOLA Catholic Parenting

To those who have accepted the vocation to physical fatherhood and those who have chosen spiritual fatherhood via ordination: Happy Father’s Day and press on in the good fight!

The Christian call to fatherhood is a high calling. While growing up, I remember being told by my father that the right choices are usually the hardest choices.  

Choosing to live this vocation fully is a hard choice. 

A Christian father is one who imitates Christ on the cross. He puts the needs of others first. He loves and respects his wife and makes time for his kids. He is a patient and humble leader who leads by example and stands up to our culture which is increasingly hostile to our Christian values. He has a willingness to speak truth with love. He teaches his children the truth about God’s love and sacrifice.  

Unfortunately, this vision of fatherhood is not preached in modern culture. With a diminishing view of fathers has come a diminishing view of our spiritual fathers, as well. As a vital pillar of our families and the entire Christian culture, we, as men, must stand strong against a weak vision of fatherhood.

Modern culture preaches many tenets that are antithetical to the Christian call to fatherhood. We are told that kids are burdens, that we should be self-seeking, and that marriage is not important. 

This is in stark contrast to what we find in God’s Word. Children are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). We must lay down our lives for others (1 John 3:16). And God set up the marriage of a man and woman to build the human family (Mark 10:6-8).

We also experience a strong cultural urge to not challenge the status quo and to go along with what the government says is right, even when we sense it is not God’s will for our life and family. Catholicism is often seen as a lie. 

The constant stream of news media makes us confused and leaves us sometimes believing that lies are truths, and truths are lies. We, as fathers, must fight these lies with prayer and sacrifice. We must be willing to preach truth with love in the public arena as freedoms and rights are challenged.

Our priests are under attack in their fatherly vocation as well. Celibacy, for the sake of the kingdom, flies in the face of what modern culture promotes. We, as a Catholic family, must support our priests as they make sacrifices for us, their spiritual children. They cannot do it alone. They need our love and encouragement. We should invite them into our families to commune with us.  

Our priests, as spiritual fathers, are not meant to be held apart from the domestic church. We can support each other when we come together to share in the common struggles of fatherhood and build each other up in our vocations.

As fathers, we must lay down AND stand up.  We are to lay down our life for others in sacrifice of self for the greater good. 

We also need to stand up for what it means to be a strong Christian father. We must build ourselves up in prayer and with sacrifice, but we also need to have humility and know that we don’t have to do it alone. 

We are a community of believers for a reason. As fathers, we must be willing to lift each other up and encourage each other to press on as holy fathers.

Kevin Sprehe is originally from Colorado. He and his wife, Casey, have five children and are members of St. Benilde Parish in Metairie. Committed to outdoor adventures, Kevin takes his family to see the world whenever the small moments arise. Daily, though, he works in the construction industry for a local general contractor. He serves on the board of the Woman’s New Life Center.