What is the meaning of being 'the father'?

Happy Fathers’ Day!  What does it mean to be “the father?”  Well often it means always being the one who ends up with the heels of every loaf of bread.  
It means being the one who gets out of bed when there is a strange noise.  
It means being the one who passes on the last piece of cake so that someone else in the family can have it. 
 It means being the one who is called on to fix anything broken, from dishwashers to broken hearts (the dishwashers are easier to fix!).  
It means praying for your children, asking THE Father for help.
It means opening the jar (of pickles or anything else that a lid is stuck on).
Dads, we are called to love in a self-sacrificial way.  We are called to be men who protect our families.  We are called to be strong and to use our strength to build up others.  This calling is too big for us.  That is why we absolutely have to be men of prayer first of all.  We must draw near to Our Father.  We must spend time with Him and learn from Him.  We need to find models of being good fathers.
May I propose that we spend time meditating on St. Joseph.  I would like to offer two things that we can mediate on:
First, in the Gospels we never hear St. Joseph speak.  Yet, it is to him that the angel discloses the name of the messiah.  It is to St. Joseph that the plan for the Holy Family to seek exile in Egypt is revealed.  He is also the one given the message to return from exile.  Joseph is so humble that we do not have any recorded words, but he was the head of the family and kept them safe.
Second, we hear a bit about St. Joseph during the infancy of the Lord, but hear nothing more from him or about him once Our Lord’s public ministry begins when Jesus was 30 years old.  Tradition holds that St. Joseph died during the “silent years” and that presumably Jesus and Mary were present as Joseph died.  Sign me up!  I cannot image a better way to die than in the company of Jesus and Mary.  This is why St. Joseph is the patron of a happy death.
St. Joseph, pray for us! 
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] 
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