Fathers for the Future
This weekend on June 19th the Archdiocese of Cincinnati celebrates our bicentennial. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to look back on all that has happened in the past two hundred years. There is a lot to be grateful for: parishes established, children baptized, Masses offered, schools established, priests ordained, and lives transformed. Think about how many lives have been transformed by Jesus Christ and His Church in our Archdiocese.
Two hundred years ago our 19 counties were a small outpost in the up and coming state of Ohio. There wasn’t the population or infrastructure that we have today. Priests oftentimes rode on horseback from family to family throughout the countryside gauging the Catholic presence and looking for opportunities for the faith of Jesus Christ to grow. The Archdiocese has gone through seasons of great growth. As the Germans immigrated to our area and the Irish settled during the potato famine in the mid-1800s our Archdiocese grew. Also after World War II under the leadership of Archbishop Alter, the archdiocese experienced another season of incredible growth.
As all dioceses go through seasons of growth and retraction, we are entering a new era in our Archdiocese. Each generation has to respond to the needs and situation during which they live. As I mentioned last week in the bulletin, we have experienced a decline in the practice of the faith. I presented the statistics from the last 10 years, but I’m absolutely sure that the numbers from 50 years ago would be even more dramatic.
These trends should cause us to perk up and ask, “What have we been doing over the past 50 years that hasn’t been working?” “What do we need to do differently to pass on the faith to future generations?” And “How do we reach fallen away Catholics, non-Catholics, and those who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ?” If we don’t ask these questions and honestly wrestle with them, these trends will probably continue and things will just get worse.
In the midst of all of this, there are signs of great hope. It is absolutely clear that the Lord is renewing His Church. While I was away on vacation, I found myself at a dinner table with prominent Catholic businessmen in Denver (how I found myself at this dinner table is a story for a different day). One of the men shared the story about his conversion. He had been living a life just for himself, worrying about his own desires, dreams, and comfort. He encountered the Divine Mercy message through St. Faustina Kowalaska and his life was never the same. He experienced the mercy of God forgiving him of his selfishness.
His witness allowed other men to share what God is doing in their lives. I was really impressed by one of the men and his prayerfulness. He was an incredible listener and when he spoke, it was pure gold. He described the ways that he was trying to bring his five children to know Jesus Christ and hand on the faith to them. The intentionality and thoughtfulness was really impressive.
My takeaway from dinner that evening was how important fathers will be for the renewal of the Church and the renewal of our country. On this Father’s Day, there are so many men who are great examples in our parishes. They are bold in living their Catholic faith. They are intentional in passing on the faith to their children. They are generous in their service to Christ and His people. These community, parish, and family leaders will lead the renewal that we so desperately need. It is obvious that we have these men in our parish.
During this year of St. Joseph and on Father’s Day, let’s pray for our dads and men. Let’s pray that they may imitate the virtues of St. Joseph. If you are a father or man who wants to go even deeper and gather other men into our Lord’s army, let me know and we can see where the Lord may be calling you.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Sean Wilson
