This last weekend was the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, and the Gospel was from Matthew 23:1-12. This is the Gospel passage where Jesus is calling out the Pharisees about taking the choice places at banquets, and liking the greetings in the synagogs and marketplaces. Essentially, using their position and authority to get “perks” and “SWAG.” In that passage, Jesus says:
“Call no one on earth your father;
you have but one Father in heaven.”
This morning when I got to daily Mass at St. Dominic’s, one of my parishioners asked me about this passage and how we Catholics get away with calling priests Father. Of course, I know that the non-Catholic Christians (I stay away from the word Protestant, because most non-Catholic Christians aren’t expressly “Protestant” anymore, which in my mind is limited to things like Presbyterians, Lutherans and Episcopalians, whereas a lot of other non-Catholic Christians are really something different, like Evangelicals and non-denominational Christians) give us trouble about this verse- a lot of chaplains at Hospitals (and even Catholic Hospitals!) won’t address me as “Father” because of this verse.
(A funny sidenote, when I introduce myself as “Fr. Wagner,” often the non-Catholic chaplains will ask my first name, so they can address me by it- my reply is that my first name is “Father.” It is fun to watch the reaction.)
So how do we get away with this calling priests “Father,” and the Pope “Holy Father” in the light of this verse?
Well, Jesus is right- he is always right, since he is Jesus- there is only one “Father.” His point in this passage is to point out that the Pharisees are taking advantage of an authority that comes from God alone as if THEY were the source of that authority. Their authority, as every authority comes from God, and is allowed by God. So in every sense, anyone who is in authority on Earth “participates” in the authority of God. Jesus even says this in John 19:11 to Pilate.
So priests and the Pope are not “Fathers” in their own right- their Fatherhood “participates” in the Fatherhood of God who is the supreme and only true Father. So in other words, priests are Fathers because God is THE Father- their Fatherhood flows from, and is based on, the true Fatherhood of God the Father, the First Person of the Holy Trinity. So no one can claim to be a “Father” without it relating directly to the Fatherhood of God. That goes for biological Fatherhood as well- you are a Father because God the Father let’s you participate in His Divine Fatherhood.
Further, when we call a priest or the Pope “Father” it is a direct reminder to both the priest and the people of the Divine Fatherhood of God the Father. Priests and biological Fathers are NOTHING without the Divine Fatherhood of God which underlies their Sacramental and biological Fatherhood. It is a reminder to us of where our Fatherhood comes from and that we should never be like the Pharisees who were ruled by their pride.
I like how the non-Catholics get around this- they like titles too, and are often called “Doctor.” Look at how many preachers are “Doctor” this, and “Doctor” that. Well… “Doctor” means “teacher” in Latin. Look it up! The next line in that passage says to call no one “teacher.” But of course, when you throw out the Sacred Tradition, (Big “T” Tradition, from which the New Testament Scripture comes from, and by which it is accurately interpreted), you can just say whatever you want about the Bible and it is true. Right?
I will talk about the Sacred Tradition in another post, I guess, but that is what is really at the heart of our troubles in regards to passages like this, and any disputed passage of the Bible…
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