Joseph, Becoming a Useless Father
Every true vocation is born of the gift of oneself, which is the fruit of mature sacrifice. When fathers refuse to live the lives of their children for them, new and unexpected vistas open up. Every child is the bearer of a unique mystery that can only be brought to light with the help of a father who respects that child’s freedom—a father who realizes that he is most a father and educator at the point when he becomes “useless,” when he sees that his child has become independent and can walk the paths of life unaccompanied. Then he becomes like Joseph, who always knew that his child was not his own but had merely been entrusted to his care. In the end, this is what Jesus would have us understand when he says: “Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” (Mt 23:9).
—Pope Francis
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