(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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Question 20: Why do we Catholics call our priest "Father," when Jesus said: "Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven" (Mt. 23:9).
Answer: Catholics call their priest Father, because the priest is the ordinary minister of Baptism, which gives them the new birth of supernatural grace (Jn 3:5).
Christ was not finding fault with the use of the terms "Rabbi" or "Father" in themselves, but was teaching us that God alone, the Father of us all, is the Source of all authority, and at the same time rebuking the Pharisees for their pride (Mt. 23:2-10). It is absurd to interpret our Lord's words literally, for we have a perfect right to call our fathers and teachers by their just title. The early Christians never interpreted these words literally, for St. Paul calls Timothy his son (Phil. 2:22; 1 Tim. 1:2), and he calls himself the spiritual father of those whom he converted. " For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (1 Cor. 4:15). St. Jerome tells us that the fourth century monks in Palestine and Egypt called one another "Father."
