THROUGH UNTRUE Fr. Rolando V. dela Rosa, O.P. In 2020, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that 2.2 million Filipinos were forced to leave their families to find work overseas. Approximately 968,000 of those migrant workers were men. Imagine if all of these were fathers. They might be able to send huge remittances to their families, but their prolonged absence would certainly have collateral damage, especially to their children. Recent studies and surveys show that, on average, children with absentee fathers are more likely to experience emotional, health, educational, spiritual, and psychological problems. They are likely to be victims of child abuse. They are also prone to engage in criminal behavior. The phenomenon of absentee fathers is not only due to migration. It is a by-product of our rapid-fire, fast-food, speed-mail, consumerist, and internet generationthat afflicts many of us with "hurry sickness." Even those fathers who do not need to go overseas find it difficult to be present to their children because they are always in a hurry, constantly rushing from one activity to the other. Presence does not just mean visibility. Technology can make an absent father "visible" through social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Viber, or Zoom, but this does not necessarily translate into a felt presence. Presence means AVAILABILITY. A child feels that his father is there for him when the latter is available whenever and wherever the child needs him. Many fathers justify their absence by saying, "Every day, I have to contend with many pressures and demands. I have no time to be always there for my children."This is a big lie. All fathers have 24 hours a day, but they spend most of these on work and give their children the leftover. When a father's self-image is founded on his busy work routine, helping his child do a homework, or bringing him to a movie, or attending a school activity can be considered an unwelcome disruption. A father once confided to me that the COVID-19 pandemic made him rethink his priorities. He said: "I used to devote much time to my work. I go to bed very late and wake up very early, feeling tired and weak. Every time I glance at the clock, I panic. Like many fathers I must contend daily with lots of pressures and demands. "I always have my cell phone with me. Instead of facilitating communication with my wife and children, it has become a shield to protect me from the burden of listening and responding to their questions, requests, ideas, and feelings.But when the pandemic came, I was forced to stay at home, and I realized that being an absentee father is dangerous, not only to my health but to my relationship with my family." His moment of truth came one night when he put his five-year-old son to bed. What he experienced seemed to have been cut out from a page in William Bausch's book The Word In And Out of Season "It was the first time I had to put my son to bed. After finally getting the little fellow into his nightclothes, I lifted him into bed, hoping he would quickly fall asleep. Suddenly, he looked at me and said: 'Daddy, I have to say my prayers first.' "My son knelt beside his bed, closed his eyes, and said his usual prayers. Then he paused,raised his eyes to heaven, and prayed: 'Dear God, make me a great, big, good man like my Daddy. Amen.' "I stayed on, watching him as he dozed off. Before I left the room, I prayed with tears in my eyes: 'Dear Lord, make me a great, big, good father like my boy thinks I am.'" Happy Father's Day!