Denver Catholic

19 DENVER CATHOLIC | JUNE 8-21, 2019 others to educate their children in the faith, but must serve as a role model and teacher, as well as working with other men to make the parish a place conducive to masculine fellowship and mentorship. Secondly, fathers should teach their sons how to work, for "in his work, a man has the oppor- tunity to give himself over to his daily burdens out of love, for the sake of his family" (127). The e" ort and ded- ication needed in work help bring boys to maturity and create a bond between men. Third, Craig recom- mends the experience of leisure, lead- ing boys to disengage with technol- ogy to experience the real things of nature. "Boys need to be seeing, feel- ing, and touching real things in the real world — homesteading, hunting, hiking, playing, camping, swimming, carving, building, climbing, hiking " (131). Finally, Craig recognizes how mentorship extends to prayer and the spiritual life, learning how to engage in contemplative prayer, penance, fasting, the liturgical life, and frater- nal community. Craig also o" ers an important exhortation to embrace the fatherly authority that God has bestowed on men to discipline their children in a loving way, which helps them to learn self-control. "Fatherhood is a great power and a great responsibility. We must speak and act with authority, yet we must also retain the trust of our children. . . . Fatherly discipline and authority are important exercises of dominion, and boys need it. The undisciplined boy stays a boy" (112). Dr. Leonard Sax, in an important book I reviewed previously, The Col- lapse of Parenting, makes the same point: If parents refuse to exercise their authority to guide their children to maturity, setting clear limits for them and teaching them discipline, they will remain emotionally imma- ture and less likely to succeed in school and as adults. As Father's Day approaches, it is a good moment to refl ect upon the importance of fatherhood and the role that it plays in raising healthy and holy children. In response to all the problems we face, we can say with confi dence that good fathers will go a long way toward shoring things up. The more men embrace this God- given role, the more we can raise the next generation of leaders for the family, society, and the Church. Next stop for life, the Supreme Court I t is inspiring to see states across the country signifi cantly restrict abortion this year, primarily by banning the destruction of life within the womb once a fetal heartbeat is detected. These laws are also a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court deci- sion that nationalized the question of abortion and legalized the subsequent killing of tens of millions of babies. Advocates of abortion and defend- ers of life are on a collision course at the Supreme Court. The only morally acceptable outcome to this issue is to outlaw abortion and to embrace the gift of life. The battle is rapidly inten- sifying. Any advocates for life stand- ing on the sidelines need to join the fi ght with their voices and their votes. There is no room for complacency. And while some would like to paint this as a purely partisan issue, con- sider that Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, recently signed a fetal heartbeat abortion ban in that state. Meanwhile, consider how emboldened abortion activists have become in recent years. Have you ever seen someone on a power trip? I know I have, and they are people who think they are the smartest ones in the room. If they were half as smart as they thought, they would be danger- ous. Unfortunately for children about to come into this world, they are dan- gerous. I'm talking about those people who have taken it upon themselves to decide if a child should live or die. Ever since Roe v. Wade, we've seen people debate where to draw the line on killing a child in the womb. Should the life of the child be terminated prior to detecting a heartbeat, before the child can survive outside the womb, or maybe just prior to being born? The bottom line is that we are talking about killing a human being out of convenience. But even being born may not protect a child from a mother's choice of life or death. Science has proven what those in the pro-life movement have always known: The child in the womb is a unique human being, never to be duplicated. Some abortion supporters have now crossed the line into advo- cating for infanticide. They argue that it is a woman's choice — even after birth. So, what we have now is the mother being given the role of judge and jury, with a doctor enrolled as executioner. Explaining his support of a pro- posal to loosen abortion restrictions, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was asked in January about a woman going into labor who desires a third-trimester abortion. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, said, "The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother," according to a video. That discussion would be about whether mom wants the baby to live or die. As of this writing, the U.S. House of Representatives has refused at least 50 times to vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. And just when you think that our elected o¤ cials (those who think they are the smartest ones in the room) can't say anything more foolish, we have Alabama state Rep. John Rogers. During debate over the abortion ban in that state, he said, "Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later. You bring them into the world, unwanted, unloved. Then you send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now or kill them later," according to a video. Who is qualifi ed to make the deci- sion that anyone is "unwanted" and should be killed? I challenge even those who support abortion to stand up and condemn these misguided and callous politicians. When is this kind of rhetoric going to have conse- quences? Are these the type of people we want representing us? Guest Column Deacon Geož Bennett is the Vice President of Parish and Community Relations at Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Denver, including the Respect Life O´ ce. DEACON GEOFF BENNETT In the May 25 issue, on the page 16 feature highlighting graduation stats from each Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Denver, the numbers for Regis Jesuit High School were not accurately representative of the 2019 graduating class. The number of grad- uates for the boys' division were 230 and 186 for the girls' division, putting the grand total of graduates at 416. Additionally, 405 is the total number of graduates attending college, not the number of scholarships that were awarded. We apologize for the errors. CORRECTION PHOTO BY ZACH GIBSON | GETTY IMAGES

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