Catholic Dads

Battle Ready: Multiplying… everything

December 13th, 2011

Learning that love is multiplied and not divided is crucial to what we do as fathers.

Finally, I am getting some time to blog here. Two weeks ago we welcomed our second child into the world – our first boy. He was born, is doing quite well, and we are overjoyed at the addition.

I haven’t gotten to post in a couple of weeks due to the craziness that is the run up to a baby. We are pretty laid back people when it comes to that sort of thing, but living in Alaska makes life… interesting, to say the least. I plan to update regularly again, so I wanted to make sure I got an update here for my weekly (as it is supposed to be) feature.

The biggest change in our life so far is that everything is multiplied. Diapers, food, time spent “managing” different situations, tiredness, sleeplessness, but most importantly Love. I wrote a post over at Ignitum Today about love multiplying. I think this is important to understand as a father. As men, we are often very competitive individuals, who sometimes have a hard time “understanding” our feelings. I worried that I was going to have favorites, or feel some sort of unfair feelings towards one child or the other. I have found out quickly, that this isnt the case. God is a loving God, and has made it possible that within our hearts, we can multiply the love we give… and receive.

As Catholic fathers, the concepts of self-sacrifice, dying to self, and the greatest of loves… are not foreign to us. They are the definition of who we are as Catholics. Living these virtues is not only heroic, but it is Christ-like. It is our calling as fathers. Having children shouldn’t be something that makes us, or anyone for that matter, think that we are some how dividing anything. More children does not divide time, money, resources, and most importantly it does not divide love.

Instead, it does the opposite. It multiplies. It makes everything better, and not just by one or two. It makes everything double, triple, quadruple, etc… Wrapped up into the mystery and beauty of life, is the opportunity for us, as fathers, to be something more. We can love more, give more, die to self more, and ultimately love God more.

In the end, isn’t that what this pursuit of life is all about? To love God, serve Him, and pass on that love by creating new life through love? I look forward to learning to multiply my life and my love. I look forward to being a fuller person, through an actualization of my vocation. This isn’t to say that more children makes you a better person, but when God grants life – it isn’t luck or coincidence. Our goal is not to have the most kids possible, but to discern for our families what God wants, and to use our will to get out of the way and let HIS will be done.

Also, it allows us to follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph. During this Advent season, we often hear of Mary’s Fiat. Important not to forget is that St. Joseph also said ‘yes.’ He stoically, and faithfully committed himself to God. His love multiplied, but most importantly he lived by the rule that we all must learn to live by, especially us fathers:

He must increase, we must decrease.

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Joe writes daily at: Defend Us In Battle. This featured column: Battle Ready, appears every Tuesday. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. He writes for IgnitumToday and does freelance work, if you are interested in his work please email him at his blog.