Fatherhood is no game of chance

A Catholic prelate on Saturday called on the faithful to rediscover the “immense value” of fatherhood, saying that real manhood “is not machismo, but being responsible.”

In a pastoral letter, Nueva Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi warned that the traditional meaning of fatherhood today was being “challenged and undervalued.”

“To young men who are seeking to have a family of their own, I admonish you: prepare well for marriage and family life. Be ready to embrace the responsibility of being a husband and father with utmost seriousness,” Legaspi said.

“Marriage and fatherhood are not games of chance. For us, these are grace and responsibility. Do not have false illusions. The mark of real manhood is not machismo, but being responsible,” he said.

Fatherhood is “both a marvelous gift and a serious responsibility” that entails standing up for the rights of the unborn, Legaspi said.

“Thus, for us Christians, every human life has to be protected and cared for from the very moment of conception up until its natural end. This too is fatherhood,” he said.

The archbishop said he was aware of “the hardships of many fathers” like those separated from their families “due to work or other reasons,” those who have lost their families, or have failed them, those who are gripped by poverty and those who are sick and in pain.

“To these fathers I say: Put your confidence in the Lord. Rise above your failures. Straighten what is wrong. Recover the sense of respect for oneself and for your family. Support and pray for your wife and children. You know well the sufferings of children who grow without their fathers,” he said.