Catholic Dads

Remember the kerfuffle regarding Senomyx and big name food companies testing flavor enhancers on fetal cell lines?

PepsiCo is the latest company to reject the use of human tissue or cell lines derived from embryos or fetuses.

Today I gave a short talk in a University courtyard on “how guys should treat girls.” As I was preparing my presentation it occurred to me that I really wanted to sit down with a small group of Catholic Dads and shoot the breeze over this  before I wrote or spoke about it. Leaving the topic of [...]

My father died yesterday at 63 years old. The man who taught me how to be a man, how to be a father, how to be a Christian died after a fight with cancer that took him from a strong bear of a man to someone weak who did not know where he was or [...]

Imagine how much time you spend at work throughout your life. With the direction our society is moving it seems that people are working longer and longer hours for more years of their lives and therefore spending more time in their cubicle, office, etc. The office has become our home away from home which should encourage us to treat it as such.

Gentlemen, I have a recommendation for you. It is at a blog by a Catholic mother called My Broken Fiat. The particular post is titled My Darkest Secret. It describes the pain of a woman caused by her husband’s selfishness.

“Our fathers were our models for God. If our fathers bailed, what does that tell us about God?” – Tyler Durden, “Fight Club”

This quote comes from a movie I wasn’t really fond of, but thinking about this quote hit me.  In today’s society the importance of having a father is becoming downplayed in a lot of ways.  One-third of all children in the U.S. do not live with their biological father, according to fatherhood.org.  Studies also show that living without a father increases the chances for teen pregnancy, child abuse, crime, and poverty.  These children need fathers that are active and engaged in their lives.  What are all of these absent fathers doing?  Why don’t they care about their children?

Where was Joseph during the Passion of Jesus Christ?  In fact, where was St. Joseph during Christ’s entire public ministry?  I found myself asking this question after Holy Week and reading over and over again the Passion narratives of Christ.  In these narratives we seem to see Christ’s most beloved disciples, apostles, and His own Mother, but not his adoptive father St. Joseph.  What does this absence of St. Joseph mean?  How are we as Christians to understand this and what does this teach us about fatherhood?

Men in or near Orange County, California, there is an opportunity for you this Saturday at Rosary High School in Fullerton. You have an opportunity to see four outstanding Catholic speakers who may very well offer you the vision for the future that you need in your life. “There is more to life, but you need to invest in yourself to discover that. Four hours can change your life. Attend the Made 4 More conference, it will be a life-changing experience!”
— Matthew Kelly

What prayer was quoted by Margaret Thatcher after winning the 1979 United Kingdom general election, by Nancy Pelosi after becoming Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007, and by Bill Clinton in his welcoming speech to Blessed Pope John Paul II? Answer: The prayer of St. Francis.

Dave Armstrong is a man of many talents. He is an apologist, author, speaker, researcher and many more. I encountered his writings a number of years back while doing a Religious Studies Specialization in Roman Catholic Thought. I have always been impressed by his style, his books are written with great academic rigor and yet [...]