> From: Kellie Woodruff 960123.01
> Date: 23 Jan 96
>
> Father --
>
> I love your question and answer section on the internet!!!!
> What a marvelous gift! I have two questions for you now,
> but I am sure I will write with many more in the future.
> Thank you for your thoughs and time. May the Lord bless you
> always.
>
> Kellie
>
> Question: Why do we Catholics call priests "Father" when the
> Bible tells us we have only one Father, in heaven. I know
> that these are men definitely called by God to show others
> the way to Him, but I don't think I completely follow the
> "justification" of the title "Father." I mean no disrespect,
> but could you please explain? Thank you very much!
>
> Question: I have such a hard time, as a female, trying to
> understand the Pope's and so many others' logic on why
> women cannot be ordained -- yes, Jesus was God's Son and
> therefore a male, and Jesus' disciples were male, but that
> was what the time period dictated -- Jesus could not have
> six male and six female disciples because He would have had
> to spend too much of His time trying to convince the people
> of the time that those women were "okay" to be listened to,
> and He would not have been able to teach as the Son of God
> about the Father in heaven. Please explain, or direct me in
> the direction of an explanation. Thank you so much.
Dear Kellie,
You ask why we Catholics call our priests by the title "Father",
in view of the fact that Our Lord in Matthew 23:9 says: "Call no
man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in
heaven."
Our Catholic Faith teaches us that God alone is infinite in all
perfection. The whole created universe in all its perfections is
less than a speck of dust in comparison with God. He has willed
to be our Father, adopting us in Christ Jesus, His only begotten
son. His fatherhood, like everything else about Him, is
infinitely perfect, beyond all fatherhood to be found in His
creation.
And yet in His mercy, God has made us human beings in His own
image (Genesis 1:26-27). He is the "original" of any power or
goodness we may have. We are only a faint copy of the divine
Original. Human fatherhood itself is derived from God's own
fatherhood, and is itself in the image and likeness of God.
Now the question arises: does Matthew 23:9 contain an absolute
prohibition? Or does the Bible itself call human beings fathers?
If it does, then we are right to conclude that God alone is fully
our Father, but that human Fathers are true fathers indeed, but
only as images and likenesses of God.
The Bible does call human beings fathers--and so, Matthew 23:9 is
not an absolute prohibition. Furthermore, the Bible calls
priests and prophets fathers. In Judges 17:10, the Ephraimite
Micah asks a transient Levite, "Stay with me; be father and
priest to me." Later (Judges 18:19), a Danite war party
persuades the same Levite to leave Micah, saying: "Come with us
and be our father and priest." Indeed, the Bible finds
priesthood and fatherhood inseparably united.
St. Paul says he is the father of his Christian converts (1st
Thess. 2:10-11). Acts calls Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David
fathers (4:25, 7:2, 8, 14). Paul says Timothy is his son, and he
(Paul) is Timothy's father (Philip. 2:22). Reading Hebrews 12:9
reminds us of those spankings we used to get from our fathers!
1st John 2:13, 14 twice calls certain members of the congregation
fathers.
Every Catholic priest is ordained in Christ to say, "In Christ
Jesus I became your father through the Gospel" (1st Cor. 4:15).
A priest is sent "to deal (47 min left), (H)elp, More? with us as
a father deals with his children, encouraging, comforting, and
urging us to live lives worthy of God" (1st Thess. 2:11-12).
I'll take your second question in another message. But in
closing, may I ask you and all my readers to use Holy Scripture
abundantly, diligently, and wisely, keeping in mind two
principles:
1) read Scripture with the whole Bible in mind, not pulling
out individual texts and isolating them from all the other
books of the Bible;
2) read Scripture under the guidance of the teaching Church,
its only authentic interpreter, the "pillar and foundation of
truth" (1st Timothy 3:15). Scripture may not be privately
interpreted (2nd Peter 1:20-21). Badly handled, Scripture
is unhelpful and even destructive (2nd Peter 3:15-16). We
need the teaching Church, which Jesus has given us.
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo
- Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit -
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