Today is Fathers’ Day, a day to show gratitude to fathers for everything they sacrifice and do for their children. To quote a George Strait song, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then, it’s a love without end, Amen.”

The first of God’s commandments in the Bible that deals with human relationships instead of God specifically is a command to honor fathers and mothers (Ex.20:12). Parents are given to children by God to teach and love children during the most vulnerable and formative years of their lives. Whether we personally had fathers who were attentive or neglectful, loving or abusive, inspiring or absent, honest or dishonest, we all know that good fathers are essential to a good society.

Obviously it is possible to be a good and even a great man without having had a good father, but it is a lot more difficult. God, Himself a father, established physical fatherhood because of how easy it is to go astray without that strong and loving guide to care for us and shape our bodies, minds, and souls.

My own father taught me not only to work hard and be patriotic, but he has always been ready over the years to help me do math homework, file taxes, solve car troubles, plan trips, and much more. From my grandfather, I learned to love writing, history, music, and old movies. And I have been blessed to have so many men as role models and guides in my life, uncles and great-uncles and priests and professors, men who, by word and example, taught me to be a godly person and a responsible citizen.

The modern world hates fatherhood. They try to denigrate and undermine everything that is associated with the virtues of fatherhood. Men are told not to be strong, not to be decisive, not to be self-sacrificial, not to be protectors and providers. Men are taught to be selfish, weak, and cowardly. Even the word patriarchy is used as if it were a vile word! In the end, this is not only an attack on the lynchpin and guardian of society (the father), but it is an attack on God Himself. It is the puerile and irrational but dangerous rebellion of a spoiled child against his father. For several generations, young people have fancied themselves rebels against morality and tradition, against reason and purity, and so naturally, they hate fatherhood. But we see now how horribly destructive such a rebellion is. Increased drug abuse, teen pregnancy, broken families, loss of religion — these and many other evils can be traced back to America’s crisis of fatherhood.

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A wise priest once told me, “The modern world does not hate God because He is God, they hate God because He is a Father.” How true that is! And how true it also is that society will never be healthy again, our country will never be great again, until we have a new generation of good fathers. When men and women can see each other as partners instead of rivals, when men marry before becoming fathers, when there is again a societal value both for children and for parenthood, we can look cheerfully to the future. Those are the essential goods we must work for.

To all fathers, physical, adoptive, or spiritual, have a wonderful day, and thank you for everything you do!