Fathers, Roles and Family – Fathers’ Day 2012
Parish Priest’s Message from the “Key” Newsletter – 17 June 2012
It’s disheartening when we see how the role of father has deteriorated into something silly and even superfluous in society today. Television has done a good job of documenting the decline. People in my generation will remember Jim Anderson and Ward Cleaver who were the fathers who new best. A generation later, Archie Bunker was bigoted enough that you wanted to rid your house of him. Of course, Cosby was a fun dad, but was he necessary to the family? Murphy Brown had her child without the need of a father, and Homer Simpson threw fatherhood out with the bathwater.
Of course, art mimics reality. The family structure has changed; fatherhood has become an extra variable rather than a necessary constant in the family equation.
Traditionally, in the Armenian Christian family, mother and father have come together to raise children. In this model of parenting, father and mother compliment one another. Neither is dominant or submissive to the other. But for this model to work, Christ needs to be at the center of that family unit for “we are all one in Christ, Jesus.” It is for this reason the Armenian family is established as a sacrament called “Unity in Christ.”
Last year, when the “Oprah Winfrey show ended it’s run of 25 years she was asked to what she attributed her success? Her answer: “My staff and Jesus.” She had the same formula our Church has had for 2000 years.
On this Fathers’ Day, my prayer is that we rededicate our family to Christ-centeredness. May Christ’s presence guide fathers and mothers in their God-ordained role to create vibrant and lively Christian families, filled with goodness always. – Fr. Vazken
*The “Key” is the weekly newsletter of the St. Peter Armenian Church, Glendale, CA – Jesus asked the Disciples, “Who do YOU say that I am?” Peter responded “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus promised the Keys to the Kingdom for this profession of faith. (Mt 16) At the St. Peter, Glendale Parish, our faith and actions are based on that same profession of faith. It is the Key that opens the doors to our journey as Christians…
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