One group that can be a great source of hope for our society is all the fathers of our parish families. Just like great Moms, our kids need great Dads! Both provide intangibles to the their children’s development that only they can.
Families are the fundamental cell of society. If the basic cells of our society, our marriages and families, are unhealthy, so will society at large be unhealthy. As witnessed by the divorce rate, the #metoo movement, and the immoral behavior of people to whom society looks up (to name just a few of our current social ills), this unfortunately has been plainly evident in our world. The parish is the school of virtue for our fathers and mothers to recover the faith formation that their parents may have neglected to cultivate in them or that the temptations and distractions of the world have lured them to abandon.
And so, we at St. John want to redouble our efforts to help foster great dads who are strong in virtue. One major way a group of parishioners (a group of our young fathers led by Tom DuMont) is doing that by offering “Building Great Dads: The Fatherhood Project,” a series of six monthly meetings. The first meeting will be at Grand River Brewery’s Event Room on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. It is open to all fathers.