The greatest gift a father can give his family is to be a man; and not just any man, but a man after God’s own heart. This is the message that Fr. Larry Richards has been taking to men’s conferences and retreats around the country for a very long time.
His new book, “Be a Man!” goes into great detail on what that means as a challenge to men who live in a culture that is working hard to remove their masculinity.
“Men are created to be protectors, supporters and providers,” Fr. Richards remarked. “We are, by definition, givers. So, the way men relate to God, then, is different from a woman, they are action oriented. I challenge men to give themselves to a higher cause.”…
There is a war against manliness in our modern society. Think about this – in our sublime Declaration of Independence, it is noted that we resisted royal demands with “manly firmness”. Can you imagine the heart ache which would ensue if an American politician in 2010 repeated that phrase? If he were to say, for instance, that we must confront our enemies around the globe with “manly firmness”? There would be an explosion of outrage!
But we do need a bit of that. Being a man does not mean being violent; but it does entail the willingness to use violence, at extreme need. It doesn’t mean being arrogant; but it does mean making an actual decision. It doesn’t mean being top dog but, rather, being top servant – a servant who goes straight to the heart of the problem and does what is right, regardless of consequences.
Think about this – if the men who are the father’s of our rising generation refuse to do the right thing, then how will that generation even know what the right thing is? A great deal of our modern problems stem from the fact that ever increasing numbers of youngsters have not had a man in their life – they might have had someone they knew of as “dad”, but all too often he doesn’t play his role. A recovery of our sanity will require that men recover their masculinity – and we’d best get at it, before it gets too late.
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