St. Thomas

Question:  Father, why do we call you ‘Father’?
Answer:  It’s a common question. Some people want to know because I have no children, but some people ask for Biblical reasons. The Gospel of Matthew says, “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one
Father in heaven (23:9).” The community of Matthew rejects the use of titles, but even more they hate the sense of superiority they bring. Well, no one would deny a child the right to call his or her parent ‘father’ or
‘mother’, would they? To push this passage to an extreme means I would have to call my father Jim. That isn’t going to happen!
 

If we have no context on earth for the word ‘father’, then we would have no understanding of God as Father.  The use of the word is necessary for the analogy to work. Besides, the New Testament doesn’t forbid one from using the title outright. St. Paul, a man who never married or had children, is called a father. He wrote to the Corinthians, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15).” A priest, as one entrusted with the sharing the Gospel message for others, is their spiritual father. He is called to love his people, tend to their needs, teach them, admonish wrongs, praise good works, encourage growth, and encourage them to continue the legacy of the family of God. That’s why we call priests father, because that is the position they have in the Church. Just because priests are given the title doesn’t make them better, it just defines the role they play. All priests have to be very conscious of the fact that they are not better than anyone else and so follow the dictates of Christ set forward in Matthew 23. Only when we remember that do we deserve to be referred to as father; called to be people who care for others, not seeking honors for themselves