A fatherly occasion? (4)
I believe the answer is:
time
'occasion?' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for time that I've seen before include "Finite duration" , "Procrastination is the thief of ." , "'. . . and tide wait for no man'" , "Age" , "It's done in prison" .)