I am going to step into this whole toxic male thing just to say this:
If you are Catholic and want to raise a young man, teach him virtue.
Teach him prudence so he knows how to be wise and forthright in his decision making.
Teach him temperance so he knows he is not a slave to his bodily urges and how to right order his appetites to be in union with holiness.
Teach him justice so that he is attentive to what others need and to treat with respect and dignity the people in his life.
Teach him fortitude so that he is courageous and can be counted on to do the right thing despite what sacrifice might come of it. Teach him the necessity to be noble.
Teach him faith so that he doesn’t allow the corrosive morality of this world to destroy his relationship with God. That relationship, if strong, will positively impact every other relationship.
Teach him hope so that he can look beyond the immediate moment and to the long term. Teach him so he doesn’t allow himself to be enslaved by what is popular now.
Teach him love so that he embraces the selflessness necessary to being a real man.
Teach him to be a hero. Where love is absent, so is true heroism.
Do this, and you will raise a boy into a man who will not objectify others, use others, bully others, or destroy others. You will raise a man and not an overgrown boy.
Do this and you will raise the kind of men we need to be great leaders, great husbands and dads, and great priests!
Originally posted to Facebook.
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