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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Fathers Must Turn Their Hearts To Their Children

Adam Raha · August 17, 2024

Malachi 4:6: “He will turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and the
hearts of the children to their fathers;
or else I will come and strike the land
with total destruction.”

REMEMBER how deeply I was struck by this scripture when I first encountered it as a parent. I was a new father, and still had a lot to learn. Even now, as I ponder it, I realize I still do! I have eight children—one of whom was just married—on down to my five year old. We have homeschooled them all, and within that context, I have come to appreciate the “unwritten curriculum” of the role of the father in the home.

Fatherless Children • Something prevalent in modern culture is fatherless children. Indeed, we can see and imagine that if families had “present” fathers, we’d cease to see the levels of loss of religion, addiction, crime, disinterest in education, lack of common sense, and listlessness that we do seem to see among the young … even in “normal” suburban hubs where schools are full. I don’t necessarily mean children with no dad. I mean “absent” fathers. This even exists in homes where the family is nuclear and the father is not divorced from the mother, but everything “seems normal”. For that matter, this effect takes place with mothers as well—but for our purposes, we’ll focus on the “roots” of a family (and by extension, society): fathers.

Professor Of Psychology • I once had a psychology professor tell me that fathers provide the “bucket” (for instance, things like boundaries), and the mother whatever goes into the bucket (love, care, concern for others, and so forth.). That being said, to develop his idea further, I think it’s true that the father not only provides the bucket but also the capacity to receive what the mother may in turn fill it with. For as goes the father, so the child. In seeing his father love and nurture his mother, he gives the child the capacity to receive her. Notice this is simply the capacity to do so—it does not mean it will happen. So too though, the child needs to see the father be the authority figure in his home – at minimal, in matters of his religion. But also, the child must see the father love Christ, his wife, and his children. Acts of love in the family make present the love of the Heavenly Father for the Son, and the Son for the Father, indeed the love of the Trinity.

The Church Fathers • To better understand this scripture passage, let’s view it through the person of John the Baptist, and how our Church Fathers understood its importance for the Church. By extension, we can draw lessons in having a loving authority from it as fathers. (I know I have.)

John the Baptist:

(Matthew 11:11) “Truly, I say to you,
among those born of women there has
risen no one greater than John the
Baptist; yet he who is least in the
kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

HE ADVENT of John the Baptist is a great figure in regard to the relationship between Fathers and their children, for through our baptism, we are priest, prophet, and king, and this needs to hold a special authoritative role in FATHERS, rooted in the love of Christ. May we through the example of the saints becoming “least” (by way of humility), become like this, just as Matthew foretold. John the Baptist spoke as one who had authority (the spirit of authority was in him), but made it clear he was not the one, and pointed to He who was. Through his preaching and ministry (baptism, personal example, and spoken word), he gave the children of Israel the capacity to receive the love of Christ.

His Lineage • John the Baptist was from a priestly lineage. His father, Zechariah, was a priest of the division of Abijah, and his mother, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron (Luke 1:5). This makes John the Baptist a descendant of the priestly tribe of Levi. His Role: John the Baptist’s role was as a prophet and forerunner of the Messiah, preparing the way for Jesus’ ministry through his preaching and baptism of repentance. Our lineage & role? Quite similar, by virtue of our Baptism.

Crucial Balance • The coming of John the Baptist, (in the spirit and power of Elijah) is the beginning of Christ establishing the heart of God turned toward the Son, and the Son to the Father, and is the very example of how fathers can and should achieve a harmony between the love he ought to show toward his children (i.e. the turning of his heart toward them) and the holding of authority in his family. Not only are both possible, but necessary, for if the balance should be off, the children will either lack their “bucket” or not have the capacity to receive what goes into it. Both Origen and Augustine offer us light into this.

Origen • First, consider Origen’s link made between the person of Elijah and John the Baptist, most especially in regard to the spirit in which he (John) came:

“But do not marvel in regard to what is said about Elijah, if, just as something strange happened to him different from all the saints who are recorded, in respect of his having been caught up by a whirlwind into heaven, so his spirit had something of choice excellence, so that not only did it rest on Elisha, but also descended along with John at his birth; and that John, separately, “was filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb,” and separately, “came before Christ in the spirit and power of Elijah.” For it is possible for several spirits not only worse, but also better, to be in the same man. David accordingly asks to be established by a free spirit, and that a right spirit be renewed in his inward parts. But if, in order that the Saviour may impart to us of “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and reverence,” he was filled also with the spirit of the fear of the Lord; it is possible also that these several good spirits may be conceived as being in the same person. And this also we have brought forward, because of John having come before Christ “in the spirit and power of Elijah,” in order that the saying, “Elijah has already come,” may be referred to the spirit of Elijah that was in John; as also the three disciples who had gone up with Him understood that He spake to them about John the Baptist.” [Origen, Commentary on Matthew, Book XII]

Saint Augustine • With that, now, consider Augustine and his commentary in “City of God” on this fulfillment of the law in love, as properly understood through Malachi 4:6:

“After admonishing them to give heed to the law of Moses, as he foresaw that for a long time to come they would not understand it spiritually and rightly, he went on to say, “And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the great and signal day of the Lord come: and he shall turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his next of kin, lest I come and utterly smite the earth.” It is a familiar theme in the conversation and heart of the faithful, that in the last days before the judgment the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, by means of this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the law to them. […] Another and a preferable sense can be found in the words of the Septuagint translators, who have translated Scripture with an eye to prophecy, the sense, viz., that Elias shall turn the heart of God the Father to the Son, not certainly as if he should bring about this love of the Father for the Son, but meaning that he should make it known, and that the Jews also, who had previously hated, should then love the Son who is our Christ. For so far as regards the Jews, God has His heart turned away from our Christ, this being their conception about God and Christ. But in their case the heart of God shall be turned to the Son when they themselves shall turn in heart, and learn the love of the Father towards the Son. The words following, “and the heart of a man to his next of kin,”—that is, Elias shall also turn the heart of a man to his next of kin,—how can we understand this better than as the heart of a man to the man Christ? For though in the form of God He is our God, yet, taking the form of a servant, He condescended to become also our next of kin. It is this, then, which Elias will do, “lest,” he says, “I come and smite the earth utterly.” [City of God, chapter 29]

Elijah did do this for (as Origen expounded) it was John who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. It is the coming of Christ—beginning with the coming of John the Baptist—who brought with him both spirit and power, love and authority. Living in this gift is our role as fathers.

The Father’s Vocation • Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we too live in this love and by this authority. We, as he, have a calling as fathers to carry with us both spirit and power—love and authority—lest the result be a fatherless child, which is destructive to the core of our society, the domestic church, as spoken of by Pope Saint John Paul II in Familiaris Consortio (22 November 1981). God our Father did not leave us as orphans. We should also not leave our children as orphans. Rather, let us be on our way in unity with Christ, for as it says in Romans, “The night is far spent. The day is at hand.”

May John the Baptist pray for us as fathers.

You just read Adam Raha’s first article for CCW.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: August 17, 2024

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About Adam Raha

Together with his wife, Adam Raha has embraced the role of being the first (and most important) teachers for their eight children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Typo in the “Missale Romanum” (1962)
    The 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM was a transitional missal. It was on its way to becoming the 1970 version, but wasn’t there yet. It eliminated certain duplications, downplayed the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar, expanded the role of laymen, minimized the Last Gospel, made many items optional, and so forth. Father Valentine Young spotted many typos in the 1962 MISSALE ROMANUM, especially incorrect accents. The Offertory Antiphon for this coming Sunday (OF kalendar) contains an error, citing the wrong verse from Psalm 118. It should be 118:107b, not 118:154. If you read verse 154, you’ll understand how that error crept in. [In this particular case, the error pre-dates the 1962 Missal, since the 1940s hand-missal by Father Lasance also gets it wrong.]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Although the Mass contains much instruction for the faithful, it has nevertheless not seemed expedient to the fathers that it be celebrated everywhere in the vernacular. The holy synod commands pastors and everyone who has the care of souls to explain frequently during the celebration of the Masses, either themselves or through others, some of the things that are read in the Mass, and among other things to expound some mystery of this most Holy Sacrifice, especially on Sundays and feastdays.”

— ‘Council of Trent, XII:8 (1562)’

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