A Father’s Voice

 We continue this week discussing the four steps to leadership with the third step, which is self-control. In my opinion, this is often a stumbling block for those in positions of leadership, for man's fallen nature will fight him every step of the way. As fallen beings, we all have our own sinful inclinations, and this is referred to as concupiscence. Humans struggle with these inclinations as it is natural for them to be of our desires, and our imperfect intellects can at times have difficulty in discerning evil. Man does not choose to do evil because it is evil. Man commits evil actions only because evil will appear to him as good in the moment. In Aristotelian philosophy, this is known as an apparent good. Self-control should then be classified as the ability to filter out the apparent goods in order to act according to that which is truly good. The most commonly known apparent goods will fall into what are known as the Seven Deadly Sins. These are pride, wrath, envy, greed, gl...

Today marks the third Sunday of Advent, or as it is more commonly known as, Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete is a Latin word meaning rejoice. In grammatical terms, this verb is serving as an imperative. It is a command. The term comes from Saint Paul's letter to the Thessalonians where he tells them to rejoice always. Given the times we live in, it would be easy for one to question this. We live in very dark times. There are multiple wars raging around the wars. Countries are more politically divided then ever before. Finances are struggling for many of us. What have we to rejoice for? We cannot the context in which Saint Paul was writing, as he wrote those words from a Roman prison cell awaiting a death sentence. If he can rejoice in his situation, then we definitely can in ours. When he was telling us to rejoice, Paul was writing in the very same spirit as Isaiah in the passage in the first reading. It reads as follows: The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed ...

Today we continue the discussion we started last week on the four virtues of leadership with looking into the virtue of prudence. As stated last week, one cannot act prudently without first having humility. One can see this pretty clearly just through a definition of prudence. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1806) prudence is defined as the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. It is self-evident that in order to truly determine one's own good and also the good of others around us that one must have first appropriately and accurately accessed one's own value within God's divine order. Prudence is, or at least ought to be, that which guides all of our decisions to be directed at that which is our good. This is even more important for us as fathers. As fathers, not only are we discerning our own good, but we are also discerning the good of our children. As a virtue, mastery...

Today is Second Sunday of Advent, and it is fitting the we continue discussing the theme or preparation that we discussed last week. Of course in today's Gospel we heard John the Baptist's well-known words, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths." This call is still relevant to us, and as John the Baptist was preparing the people for Christ's ministry on Earth, we are to be preparing our hearts for His return at the Second Coming. In the reading we heard today from the Second Letter of Saint Peter, we received a detailed model of what our preparation should resemble. It reads: Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away wit...

It has been the view for nearly all of human history that men, especially fathers, are called to be to be leaders within their households and in their communities as a whole. I whole-heartedly believe this to be true, yet despite this being a call of all men I recognize that not all men are effective leaders. For a leader to be effective they must maintain a virtuous character, and I believe that there are four central virtues to effective leadership that are most important. These virtues are humility, prudence, self-control, and self-sacrifice. It is interesting to note as well that these virtues are sequential. Humility leads to prudence. Prudence leads to self-control. Self-control leads to self-sacrifice. Once all four of these are mastered, effective leaders are born, which is why I call this a four step process to leadership. Today I am going to embark on a series of these posts discussing each one of these virtues in their sequential order to help us all come to a complete under...

Today we mark the official beginning of the Advent Season, and I think it is appropriate today to discuss the purpose of the season. Advent is a season of preparation. It is meant to teach us how to keep ourselves ready for the return of our Lord at the Second Coming via a four week crash course on preparation for the Celebration of the Nativity of our Lord at Christmas. We see the importance of this preparation laid out in today's reading from the Gospel of Mark, which reads as follows: Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” We see described...

I wrote this past Sunday on the importance of living a life of charity as we enter the Advent season. Since we celebrated Thanksgiving just last week, it is important to remember that one must first live a life of gratitude in order to even live a life of charity. If you are not grateful for what you have been given, how you cannot be truly charitable with it? Saint Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Thessalonians, "Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstance give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes. 5: 16-18) I am not going to tell you that life is easy or free from challenges. Obviously that is not case- even our Lord said that in order to come after him, we must pick up our crosses and follow him. The road He calls us to is hard- some might even say impossible. Gratitude for the gift he has given us, a chance at salvation, makes it possible for us to do so. God has given us many additional gifts as well- our families, our ...