Man to Man, Dad to Dad : Catholic Faith and Fatherhood

Go to your local book store and you will find on the shelves, what seems to be, a million self-help books, some geared towards men. In Man to Man, Dad to Dad: Catholic Faith and FatherhoodBrian Caulfield has taken the formula and , in my opinion, improved it. Brian has assembled a group of impressive names to help Catholic men attain the ultimate goal, a place in heaven for them and their families.

What I found most interesting about this book was the format. Brian assembled 13 contributors, including himself, that really allowed the book to cover a wide variety of topics. Each of these contributors has a niche in the New Evangelization. Mike Aquilina (author and expert on the Early Church Fathers), Bill Donaghy (speaker with the Theology of the Body Institute), Mark Houck (co-founder of The King’s Men and founder of the Samson Healing Retreat for Men), and Patrick Madrid (author and director of the Envoy Institute) are just a few of the contributors. The wide range of topics, in my opinion, made the book even more appealing. The chapters include St. Joseph, disciplining kids, the presence of fathers in kids’ lives, the new evangelization, keeping kids Catholic and breaking the chains of porn.

Every subject covered in the 119 pages of this book is relevant to men today. They may not apply specifically to every reader, but likely, if not to yourself, to someone you know. Each contributor lays out an easily read chapter that if nothing else will give you pause to consider what is being covered. The book does what I believe it set out to do. To briefly touch upon relevant issues for today’s time without overwhelming the reader with a massive self-help book.

Though it’s hard to pick a chapter that jumped out as hands above the rest, I do believe Brian did a fine job with the closing chapter. In this chapter Brian outlines 3 Simple Steps for making every day of your life a more Christ centered one. Pray, Love, Confess. All three difficult to achieve in the hustle and bustle of the modern world, but they can be done if you take the time to do them. The last 2 sentences of the book were especially fitting. “Your life will not always be easy and may even be marked by hardship. But if you are a father of faith, you will be blessed, and your wife and children will be as well.”

This book was an easy read. Though short the context held me interest throughout. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

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I received a copy of the book for this review from Pauline Books and Media.