R ecently, I was offering Mass when, at communion time, a mother approached. She was accompanied by her small son.

Often, in such cases, small children will accompany a parent with their arms folded across their chest to indicate that they will not be receiving holy Communion. That was true on this occasion.

But what was notable was that the child wore a shirt that said simply, “Dad is my hero.”

That brief encounter has stayed with me as we prepare to celebrate Father’s Day this Sunday. “Dad is my hero” seems to me to be a message that, on a number of levels, we need to hear more often.

First, I thought, what a great message for that young boy. Even if he wasn’t yet old enough to read, I hope he had been told what it said.

It should be a constant lesson for our young children that our fathers are to be respected and admired.

They should be our heroes because they were the source of our lives, humanly speaking. And we know of the sacrifices made, the worries borne, the discipline given and the wisdom and advice dispensed by fathers to children.

A part of the human formation of God’s plan for family and life is to honor (and respect) our fathers, as well as our mothers, of course.

Second, that message was a great reminder for fathers and potential fathers-to-be who might see that young boy and his shirt. To be someone’s hero isn’t something that “just happens,” or is awarded for no reason. It rightfully has to be earned.

A father becomes a hero because he recognizes and then fulfills his natural responsibilities as a father. As a complement to his wife — his children’s mother, a father contributes to his children that living and modeling of the masculine aspect of life and human nature.

In faith, we understand that our human fathers give us a lived and an intuitive glimpse of the goodness, the love and the respect that we must render to our heavenly Father who is the source and model of all earthly fathers.

In our society and in the Church herself, our men need to be reminded that the responsibility of fatherhood is something expected of them and that they should aspire to. Our young men should be taught from early on to look forward to that part of family life.

Third, as a society we need to rediscover and to emphasize the joyful and heroic nature of fatherhood. In the wake of the sexual revolution of the ’60s and the ’70s, the stress on and acceptance of casual sexuality has lessened the societal insistence on male responsibility, to both women and children.

Of course, we recognize, honor and pray for the heroic women who raise children as single mothers. But how many women struggle to fulfill that burden without a husband and father? And how often do we see the consequences in society for children, especially our young men, who have not benefitted from the lifelong presence of their father?

For decades now we have been bombarded with messages and reinforcements of this sort in our television and our films. Fathers are often portrayed as witless or out of touch, certainly not necessary.

And the nightly media portrayal of sexuality as simply an act of gratification with no consequences — either of children or of resulting parental responsibility — diminishes any thoughts about fatherhood.

Our current debates over the nature of marriage and marital fidelity are not just markers of changing times. They call us to remember and fulfill the plan of God for us based in our nature and in the complementary roles of man and woman, father and mother.

We need to thank God for His wisdom and love in making us as He has.

A few weeks ago, we rightly and joyfully celebrated our mothers. Again, to them we say thank you for the gift of life, yours and ours.

This weekend, we celebrate our fathers.

Dads, thank you for taking on this sacrifice and for showing our young men how to be faithful, loyal and responsible.

Most of all, thank you for showing us how to live our faith. You really are our heroes!