“Techo”

My Chamorro-speaking friends inform me that there is no such word as “Techo”. Apparently “Techo” is not the masculine form of “Techa” because “Techa” is neither masculine or feminine. Moreover, I’m told, “Techa” is not a word that derives from spanish, a language in which nouns ending in “o” and “a” almost always designate the masculine or feminine.

A “Techa”, as we know, is the person who leads a group rosary. Apparently, it means “leader”, or one who leads. And usually, at rosaries, the Techa is a woman, at least that’s what I’ve seen. I ask my Chamorro-speaking brethren to pardon my ignorance, but given my knowledge of the spanish language, it was kind of natural for me, being a foreigner, to deduce that if the only Techas I ever saw were women, then “Techa” must the feminine form of the noun “Techo”, which of course is not true.

By now you may be wondering what on earth am I aiming at. Don’t worry. I’m not about to go off on a dissertation on the relationship between Latin grammatical structure and the Chamorro language. I had enough trouble just getting through my English classes. But regardless of whether “Techo” is a word or not, I still wonder why I’ve never seen a male “Techa”. I’m sure there must be.

In Guam, it seems that women are, for the most part, not only the rosary leaders, but often the spiritual leaders in their homes and families. Of course this is not always the case, but it’s what one sees most often: the mother, either by design or default, seeing to the spiritual needs and moral direction of her family. I’m probably dis-inviting myself to the next fiesta, and I mean no slight against such dedicated mothers, but this is not the teaching of the Catholic Church, which places the man at the spiritual head of his family.

St. Augustine says “You’re the man; show it. Man comes from manliness, vir in Latin from virtu, or virtus from vir. So have you any manliness, any virtue?...The head of the woman, it says, is the man. If you’re the head, lead...”(Sermon 332) . Modern translation: “Guys, your place is not at the BBQ with a Bud in your hand; it’s at the head...with a rosary in your hand.” And St. Thomas Aquinas says “The father is the principle of generation, of education and discipline and of everything that bears upon the perfecting of a human life”. In other words, “it’s you, dude”.

Fatherhood is in fact a vocation, a gravely serious one, a “noble task” (2 Tm,1:6). It is gravely serious because our fatherhood, as our Church teaches, is a reflection of the Fatherhood of God the Father. In the end it will be we fathers who must answer to God the Father Himself for our families and for how we fulfilled this divine appointment. And knowing that I will have to give a report is what keeps me in line most of the time.

This doesn’t let women off the hook for our Catechism instructs us to share equally in the evangelization and education of our children. But, to quote Augustine again, there is and must be in the household an “order of love”, where “The man is the head, the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for herself the chief place in love.”

But there seems little need to lecture the women. Most women seem naturally programmed to the duties and responsibilities of motherhood. It is we men who need to be taught. Though fathering and what John Paul II calls “the phenomenon of machismo”seems to come quite naturally, it doesn’t appear that fatherhood and authentic family governance does.

For whatever reason (perhaps the vestiges of original sin) we men, for the most part, are, by nature, amazingly derelict in our parental duties. We’ll let the women do everything for us if they’ll do it. I have often mused that behind this whole women’s lib thing is a lazy husband who had a good idea: “....Why bring home the bacon if she’s willing to bring it home...and cook it too?”

I have no simple answer to what is probably just cultural confusion, but our Church does. And rather than do a poor job of it, let me invite the male reader to attend the Jubilee Year Catholic Mens’ Conference. It will be held at the St. Anthony Parish Spiritual Center, Saturday, June 17, 8am to 4pm. The conference theme is “To the House of the Father!” and will feature insightful addresses from Archbishop Apuron, Micronesian scholar, Fr. Fran Hezel S.J., Fr. Wilfredo Lorilla, Pastor at Assumption of Our Lady Parish, and lay speakers and panelists.

There is an attendance “investment” of $20. A continental breakfast and fiesta lunch will be provided. Registration forms and conference flyers should be available at all parishes this Sunday. But if not, please contact Chuck White at 646-7176 or conference@kuentos.guam.net. Registrations will be accepted at the door, but pre-registrations would be appreciated in order to plan the food and setup.

It’s no accident that the conference is scheduled the day before Father’s Day. Perhaps you wives may want to give your husband a nice Father’s Day gift by registering him for the conference. Who knows? He might even come home a “Techo”.

Tim Rohr

June 11, 2001