Father as Provider: On Making of Our Lives an Offering

“Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” Luke 15:31

“Provide” — Prō-Vidēre: To See Ahead

As fathers we often feel a tension between the demands of our professional life and our parenting.  Our minds and hearts are whipsawed daily between two goods seemingly in conflict: first, get it all done at work; then, “leave work” to get it all done at home.

Thus, the clock dictates which head of the self-cannibalizing life-chimera we battle at any given point during our days of seeking “work-life balance.”

Is this what it means to provide?  Fortunately, the duty to “provide” encompasses deeper dimensions of provision that can help reconcile these seemingly divergent vocations to fatherhood and professional excellence.

What, then, does it mean to provide?  We’ll offer a broader understanding of this duty rooted in provision—prō vidēre—as an act of sight and a gift of self.  Furthermore, we’ll explore this notion in terms of what exactly we are called to provide—or offer—our families, namely: protection, presence, and a paternal introduction to the modern world.

Join us for a day of fraternity and conversation about how we, as fathers, can better provide in our Washingtonian milieu, not necessarily by working either more or less, but by refining and pursuing a vision of reality that is, ultimately, the greatest gift we can give our sons.