Ahead of Father’s Day 2024, the aerotropolis network of family educators at Sydney Catholic Schools celebrated the gift of fatherhood at Club Marconi with the “Dads Rock!” event on Monday 19 August.
Dads met with other dads across the school system to discuss their role in the family unit as fathers and connect with likeminded men bringing up their children in the Catholic faith.
Founder of Parousia Media and father of nine Charbel Raish in a keynote speech advised men their role as fathers stems from understanding love as “willing the good of the other” (CCC1766).
He encouraged fathers not to let go of self-sacrificial love in their marriages.
“What’s the best way I can love my children? Loving their mum,” Raish said.
“[They see] mum and dad have got it together and want to be like that. If we can model this we can go a long way.”
Fr Ronnie Maree, parish priest of St Anthony of Padua Austral, spoke about men’s identities as brothers, spouses and fathers.
The most important for living out fatherhood he pointed out was “man as a son.”
“None of us can be fruitful fathers, none of us can be effective fathers, without first living our baptismal identity as son of the Father,” he said.
“The more and more you grow into that relationship as sons of the Heavenly Father, the greater earthly father you will be. That is the foundation of our vocational identity.”
A-League Men’s player and father of four Tomislav Uskok also shared his testimony about balancing life as a professional athlete with his family vocation.
He likened preparations for matchdays to the preparation men must undertake for the ultimate matchday—Sunday.
“Do we have a prayer life ourselves and with our families that allows us to focus every day on Christ and his life? Do we speak to our children on the importance of Mass?” he put to the fathers.
Elias Eltarraf, a father of four who attended the event, said it was a challenge for dads to balance work and home life.
“As a father you often go into the workforce and want to work hard, you’re happy to do those long hours for the sake of your family. But when you bring children into the world, you need to really think about the impact of your presence,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
Eltarraf is preparing to send his oldest to school in 2025 and is taking the lessons he’s learned from his own father.
“The key is love. My family’s formation depends on it. Between my wife and I, we can only hope our kids draw every fruit from that.”