Father's Day in the Eyes of a Priest

 by Father Bill Bowling Archdiocese of Louisville  

When I was ordained a priest 14 ago I was a very young spiritual father. Having just turned 28 years old, I wore the clothing of the priest, and indeed I was a father just as surely as a young husband and father first holds the baby that his wife has brought into the world. But a young father has not yet learned how to love as a father, how to provide, protect, sacrifice and nurture as a father should. The father can only learn the art of fatherhood by entirely devoting himself to the task over a period of time. A father does not do this task alone. He is co-responsible with his wife within the context of extended family and community. When all functions as it should, then all works together for the proper formation of a child to achieve their fullest potential as a human being made in the image and likeness of God.

Fatherhood is always first modeled to us by our own earthly fathers. In my particular situation, being the youngest of 8 children, I remember the hard work and dedication of my own father in keeping a roof over our heads, putting food on the table, and providing a quality Catholic education for each one of us. My own father's sacrifice on behalf of his children was enormous, putting all 8 of us through Catholic grade school and high school. Both my mother and father were united in this, each complimenting the other in strength and compensating for one another in weakness. Our earthly parents are not perfect, and my own parents had their share of shortcomings, as do I. But like all good parents, they model for their children the kind of self-sacrificial love that it takes.

Spiritual fatherhood is modeled to priests both by our own brother priests who have provided a good example, as well as by the people of God whom we priests serve in ministry. The formation of a priest into an effective spiritual father occurs within the context of the faithful exercise of ministry. I remember well the priests who exercised good ministry at the parishes with which I was affiliated prior to ordination. The priests with whom I have served as well as the people of God in each parish have all played a vital role in my own ongoing formation as a priest and spiritual father. As I prepare to depart from Annunciation and St. John after 12 years of service to begin a new mission at St. Augustine in Lebanon and Holy Name of Mary in Calvary, I go with profound gratitude to all of those who have taught me thus far how to be a father.