My Dear People,

Write about the importance of making families strong! 

 I am glad that Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill to support Fatherhood in Florida. Why is that important? What happens to the children when the father is absent?    

Statistics state: 

85% of youth who are currently in prison...

75% of adolescents with substance abuse problems...                                    

85% of children with behavioral disorders...

90% of youth runaways...

...all come from fatherless homes.

Children from fatherless homes are: 4 times more likely to be living in poverty, 2 times more likely to drop out of school, 2 times more likely to commit suicide, and are 279% more likely to deal drugs or carry firearms for offensive purposes.

We have seen the number of killings by youth in cities like Chicago.  A lot of people talk about the many ways to solve the problem, but the fact remains, the problems persist. 

The main way to reverse this trend is to build stronger families.  A father in the home can have a positive influence on his children.  

Some statistics say when the mother takes the children to church, chances are when they grow up, nearly 20 percent of the children will practice their faith.   But, when the father takes the children to church, chances are over 70 percent of the children will practice the faith when they grow up. 

This shows the importance of fathers in a family. When the father is present in the home for the child, children do a lot better practicing their faith, and perform better in society.  

One individual who tried to tackle this problem over a century ago was St. John Bosco. He saw a number of street children leading a life of crime and whose lives did not have direction or value. He began providing time for them and a place to be creative, to be able to do sports, and enjoy themselves.    

In time, he established a home atmosphere, where the children could live, be comfortable, were fed and learned principles of faith and values. He taught them skills, such as carpentry, working with tools, etc., so that they would feel better about themselves, and helped them develop life skills. This proved to be very successful.   

Later St. John Bosco founded a religious society to continue his work after he was gone. The Society was in honor of St. Francis de Sales and came to be known as The Salesians. To this day, the Salesians still do this work worldwide.  Their work has been very successful. 

Let us pray today that there will be more people like St. John Bosco in our society to help us with fatherless youth; so that when the young boys grow up, they will become responsible fathers and be a good influence on their children and families. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente