Christian Fatherhood: The Eight Commitments of St. Joseph's Covenant Keepers

This is an outstanding book aimed at fathers like me that are Catholic and have embraced their faith but haven't fully realized the consequences if we neglect to pass our faith on to our children. One cannot read this book and not realize there is no greater obligation we have than to pass on our Catholic faith to our children. What could possibly be more urgent? Several times while reading this book I got that uncomfortable "hot under the collar" feeling because Mr. Wood is so effective at making one realize the things we are NOT doing as parents, and I'm a good parent!! I know Jim Burnham from when I used to live in New Mexico and he is a tremendous person and teaches Apologetics wonderfully. The lady who expressed concerns over Mr. Wood's thoughts on mutual subjection I think has either misunderstood the author's intent or focused on one thing that shouldn't lessen the message this book sends. I truly wish every father would read this book - there isn't time to lose.

This book is an excellent resource for fathers. The book describes how to follow St. Joseph, affirming Christ's lordship over our families, loving our wives, educating our children in the instruction of the lord, etc. Good resource for small mens discussion groups, too.

Steve Wood's, "Christian Fatherhood" has had a continuing and growing influence on me. Having been married fourteen years, my wife and I have had our share of challenges. The wisdom and charity within this book has helped me be a more loving husband, a better father and has given me the confidence to teach my faith to my children.

Steve Wood and James Burnham have hit the nail on the head. They have identified the critical areas where fathers become either successes or failures. If you're a young father and want to know how to be a great father - this is the book for you. If you're an old father - and want validation for what you did right and identification for where you went wrong - this is the book for you. The critical areas they deal with involve devotion to God, to Church, and to family. They show how to love and be faithful to your wife. They show how to love your children, and it's spelled T-I-M-E. They show the necessity of rightly ordering family life so that it aims at more than this family's life. Having observed both Mr. Wood and Mr. Burnham's families, I can say that they practice what they preach and their children (while giving the struggles to their parents that is ordinary) are happy, healthy, and holy. The happiness of their wives and the marvels that are their childrens are astoundingly powerful testimonies of the truth they speak in this book.

FACT: Four out of ten American children will go to bed tonight in a home without their fathers (Blankenhorn, David, Fatherless America, 1995).FACT: About 90 percent of single-parent homes are without a father. (U.S. Bureau of the Census, "Poverty in the U.S.: 1992")FACT: Seventy percent of long-term prison inmates come from homes where the father wasn't present. ("Family Values Gain Control," The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 1995, p. A6)So go the statistics...Drawing from the Bible and works such as Pope Pius XI's, Christian Marriage (Casti Connubii), Pope Paul VI's, Of Human Life (Humanae Vitae), and John Paul II's, The Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World (Familiaris Consortio) and Letter to Families, former Protestant minister turned Catholic, Steve Wood, offers 8 practical commitments that fathers can make to ensure they will leave a positive, lasting mark on their children and their children's children.Wood takes the "Eight Commitments of the St. Joseph Covenant Keepers" and goes into much greater depth on them than he has in his audiotapes or brochures. Those commitments include: - Affirming Christ's Lordship Over Our Families - Following St. Joseph, the Loving Leader and Head of the Holy Family - Loving Our Wives All Our Lives - Turning Our Heart Toward Our Children - Educating Our Children in the Discipline and Instruction of the Lord - Protecting Our Families - Providing for Our Families - Building Our Marriages and Families on the "Rock"Wood effectively uses Scripture, secular statistics, and papal encyclicals to provide practical things that fathers can do to build solid marriages and secure families. The book shows how desperately fathers are needed in a world which seems to say that they are not.Any father wondering how he can raise a faithful family needs to own a copy of this book.