If you haven’t seen the movie ‘Courageous‘ yet, Father’s day is a great reason to watch and reflect.  The movie was filmed when a church and a small town pulled together with a low budget to get a phenomenal message across.
 
The tag line of the movie, “honor begins at home” sets up the premise of the four men it follows.  Three of these men serve on the police force under the ideal of service and protection.  They have become used to lofty honors and respect in the workplace, however they are not quite the same heroic men in the household and in the position of father.


As the drama unfolds, each of the men comes to terms with his own mistakes as a father and vows to be “a visual representation of the character of God; their Father in heaven” to his children in all that he does and says from thenceforth.  

I am so thankful for my own father and the father that my husband is, but most importantly for the Fatherhood of God, the perfect protector, caregiver, and lover of our immortal souls.  To reflect this image of God the Father in the domestic church of the family is a great task and there will be falters along the way, but endurance and fortitude are what matter most and having the courage to step up “regardless of the mistakes made in the past, and regardless of what our fathers did not do for us.”  Our culture so desperately needs men who turn the tides of the absent and negative example of their fathers before them.  Men who “will give the strength of their arms and the rest of their days to loving God with all that they are and to teach their children to do the same, and whenever possible to love and mentor others who have no father in their lives but who desperately need help and direction.”

“A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts!”  This is such a beautiful quote of the gentle strength of fatherhood and I am reminded of St. Joseph; foster father of Jesus, whose gentle strength and quiet obedience led his family out of the path of destruction over and over again.  He gave his son a simple life full of love and virtue.  He was a good husband to his son’s mother and he took her into his house, trusting the word of the angel, and provided for and loved her all of his days.

Fatherhood is the greatest role a man can have and with such great blessing comes great responsibility.  “As a father you are accountable to God for the position of influence He has given you.  You can’t fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or your hobbies have no eternal value, but the souls of your children do.”  When asked who will be accountable for the souls of your children, I hope you can say “I Will.”

 

 

Kimberly Cook

Writer, Podcaster, Mother, & Catholic Apologist. Meet Kimberly