Influential Fathers on April 30 was the fourth segment of the virtual Children Are Gift (CAG) programme.
Previous CAG segments encouraged persons to develop balanced physical, emotional, intellectual, social, and spiritual lives, anchored in the God-centred virtues. Persons also learnt that discipline involves teaching, instruction and education, and that adoption is an act of love.
“Fathering is perhaps the greatest underutilised resource for raising responsible children… It is worth the effort (for fathers) to become more involved and connected and have more of an influence in their children’s life” (Parenting and Family Life, 2011).
In his presentation, Richard Smith disclosed that “being a daddy and a husband has not been easy” but daily, he is trying to be the best that he could be. He said that the “male father figure is missing” in the lives of many and “even if there is a male presence, the male emotional involvement is not there”.
Smith acknowledged that there are males who are trying to do the right things. Men were urged to become influential fathers by:
There are many factors that affect the relationship between a man and his children. “Some fathers feel that they are useless and unnecessary but…children need to find a father waiting for them when they return home with their problems” (177, Amoris Laetitia).
Further information about influential fathers as well as the factors that impact the father-child relationship can be obtained by viewing this segment on the Archdiocesan Family Life Commission’s (AFLC) Facebook and Instagram pages, @familylifecommission. The Parenting and Family Life manual costs only $50. Interested persons can contact the AFLC at 299-1047, email familylife@catholictt.org or visit the AFLC’s website at aflcrc.org.