CNA Staff, Jun 21, 2020 / 05:01 am
In a video message Thursday, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix urged prayers for fathers ahead of Father's Day, saying that fatherhood is the "mission of every man."
"In the time of the current pandemic and social unrest, in a society confused by moral relativism and misinformation, the need is great for men with humility and courage to embrace their God-given mission of fatherhood- so critical to the future of the family and of society," he said in the June 18 message.
Olmsted's own father, who died only a few years ago, converted to Catholicism after falling in love with an Irish Catholic.
"Dad never had any regrets about making that decision, so I had the great blessing of growing up in a home where praying was as natural as grieving, where we experienced the mercy of God every two weeks as we went to confession as a family, and knelt down each night to pray evening prayers together."