“It was my hope that in having been a father made me a better priest, and that my being a priest made me a better father,” he said. “I’m grateful to feel that both of those prayers continue in my life today.”

Father Grogan, pastor of Nativity Parish, Fair Haven, shared a few thoughts on fatherhood – both in the spiritual sense as a priest and as a man who is widowed and has raised three sons – in a video segment for Faith At Home, an online resource that gives parishes and the Diocese an opportunity to make a connection with families and help support their knowledge and growth in the Catholic faith.

In his video for Father’s Day June 21, Father Grogan said he found it to be both amazing and intriguing to see a link between his ordination as a priest and his experience in being a father.

“I began my priesthood with the already unusual circumstance of being a widower and having with their mom raised three sons,” he said, explaining how a few weeks after his ordination, his own father died. The funeral Mass, which Father Grogan concelebrated with his brother, who is also a priest, was on the Saturday before Father’s Day.

[[In-content Ad]]

“As a parish priest, I am privileged to serve many families as a spiritual guide, a spiritual father,” Father Grogan said. “As a natural father, I had my fruits of fatherhood unfold in real, concrete ways as my sons have grown.” He noted that he is also a father-in-law.

“I hope to continue to learn from my sons how to be a better father, and in those moments of learning, I have the potential to be a better priest to other fathers and sons, to brothers and sisters and parents in all circumstances.”