By: Bayo Famoroti
A cleric, Ven. Victor Ojo, has declared that only a father that obeys God’s instruction on preparation for his home is worthy of honour.
He made the declaration in a sermon he delivered to mark this year’s Fathers’ Day, on Sunday at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Odo-Ado, Ado_Ekiti.
Said he: “You must prepare for your house and be a successful man. It has blessings, because there’s blessing for you when you obey God’s words
“A dedicated father worthy of celebrating, if you didn’t take care of your home you are not worthy to be giving any gifts from the children because you ignored them.”
Ven. Ojo recalled that two women, Grace Golden Canton and Solora started Father’s Day 0n 5th July, 1908 after an earthquake occurred .
“The first Father’s Day was celebrated in 1910, but it took more than six decades for the day to become official.
“The holiday piggybacked off Mother’s Day, which became a commercial holiday in 1908. By 1914, Mother’s Day was made official by President Woodrow Wilson, who said the second Sunday of May would be dedicated to honoring “that tender, gentle army, the mothers of America.
“The story goes that William’s daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, was attending one of the first official Mother’s Day services in 1909 at her church in Spokane,
Washington, when she had an epiphany—if mothers deserved a day in honor of their loving service, why not fathers?
“When Sonora was 16, her mother Ellen died, leaving William as a single father to Sonora and her five younger brothers. And by Sonora’s account, he performed brilliantly. “I remember everything about him,” Sonora said many years later to the Spokane Daily Chronicle. “He was both father and mother to me and my brothers and sisters.”
Sonora’s mother Ellen, herself a widow, had three children from a previous marriage. On top of that, William had also been married and widowed before he met Sonora’s mother. William had five children with his first wife, Elizabeth, who were already grown when William became a widower for the second time”, it was recalled.
Ven. Ojo then told the women in the congregation and all over the world that this day is when they should give their fathers gift to appreciate their role in their life.
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