father

[santaro75]

I am a catholic and at mass i was thinking…(yes it was wandering a bit) but anyway, would I ever be comfortable or feel worthy of others calling me father or your holiness?

Seems that the more i grow closer to christ the less holy i feel. The more I see a need for a savior and the more i see the importance of service. The more I feel humbled to others around me. I figured if i ever got to the heights of priest or pope i would rather be called, his servitude or his humbleness or his meekness.

any thoughts?

 

[Jeanette_L]

santaro75:

I am a catholic and at mass i was thinking…(yes it was wandering a bit) but anyway, would I ever be comfortable or feel worthy of others calling me father or your holiness?

Seems that the more i grow closer to christ the less holy i feel. The more I see a need for a savior and the more i see the importance of service. The more I feel humbled to others around me. I figured if i ever got to the heights of priest or pope i would rather be called, his servitude or his humbleness or his meekness.

any thoughts?

It really has absolutely nothing to do with the holiness of the priest or bishop… but with the position held and the grace conveyed through that position by Christ to his Church. The holiness is Christ’s alone.

 

[imroc]

santaro75:

I am a catholic and at mass i was thinking…(yes it was wandering a bit) but anyway, would I ever be comfortable or feel worthy of others calling me father or your holiness?

Seems that the more i grow closer to christ the less holy i feel. The more I see a need for a savior and the more i see the importance of service. The more I feel humbled to others around me. I figured if i ever got to the heights of priest or pope i would rather be called, his servitude or his humbleness or his meekness.

any thoughts?

No man is worthy. But they ARE called to such. I wouldn’t necessarily say, “…the heights of a priest…” They are to live a life much more humble than we could imagine. But this is speaking in worldly terms. And I know that our priests, who come from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity would never consider themselves above anybody.

 

[Flopfoot]

Jesus said “The greatest among you must be the one who serves and must make himself the least”. Priests and the Pope are called to be humble men of service, and it is for that reason that we call them ‘Father’, ‘His holiness’ etc. because their humility makes them great. We owe them a lot of respect because they serve us, just like we owe our parents a lot of respect for the same reason.

For a priest or the Pope, I suppose they don’t let these titles go to their head but instead they accept it as the peoples’ sign of respect for them and their position.

 

[scylla]

I know some priests and they are very humble men, the reason I call them father, is as part of my spiritual family I accept them as fathers to me, out of respect. I try to give them the respect the deserve as they have given their lives in service of Jesus. Also we are supposed to see Christs in others so in that sense I can call them fathers, and other Christians brothers, or the sisters who serve at my church, sisters.

Most of the time when pride gets in there, Priests no longer serve God and serve themselves, usually falling away and going off to start their own church or reject God altogether or falling into despair. Not all the time is it pride sometimes it is just sin, poor formation or selfishness.
Poverty, chastity, service and humility are difficult for many people to live and not all end up doing a good job of it. We need to pray for those in service of others as our priests and religious sometimes have difficult crosses to carry.

In Christ
Scylla

 

[puzzleannie]

honor and respect given to the priest, bishop or Pope are given to Christ, whose representative this man is, and is not a declaration of his personal worthiness or holiness. St Francis said if he met a priest who was a notorious public sinner he would kneel and kiss the man’s hands because they held Christ and because this man is Christ’s representative.

 

[MonkeyTape]

santaro75:

I am a catholic and at mass i was thinking…(yes it was wandering a bit) but anyway, would I ever be comfortable or feel worthy of others calling me father or your holiness?

Seems that the more i grow closer to christ the less holy i feel. The more I see a need for a savior and the more i see the importance of service. The more I feel humbled to others around me. I figured if i ever got to the heights of priest or pope i would rather be called, his servitude or his humbleness or his meekness.

any thoughts?

This is exactly what Jesus was refering to when he said “call no man father.”

When someone is comfortable or considers it his **right **to be called father, then he has put himself above who he serves - both God and us.

Jesus was condeming those who seek titles and accolades for themselves.

If you are feeling unworthy don’t worry, we all are truly unworthy of salvation, salvation is a gift of God. All we can do is cooperate - accept or reject that gift.

If you are feeling that you need a savior don’t worry, we all do, even the Blessed Virgin. You’re in good company, pray, work out your salvation in fear and trembling, and place your hope and trust in God.

 

[santaro75]

MonkeyTape:

This is exactly what Jesus was refering to when he said “call no man father.”

When someone is comfortable or considers it his **right **to be called father, then he has put himself above who he serves - both God and us.

Jesus was condeming those who seek titles and accolades for themselves.

If you are feeling unworthy don’t worry, we all are truly unworthy of salvation, salvation is a gift of God. All we can do is cooperate - accept or reject that gift.

If you are feeling that you need a savior don’t worry, we all do, even the Blessed Virgin. You’re in good company, pray, work out your salvation in fear and trembling, and place your hope and trust in God.

This is what i think too. The truly holier I get the more meek and humble I want to be. I want less attention for being holy because I realize my sinfulness more which makes me hold on to and turn to christ more. I also begin to see his value greater as a savior and the only way to even have a chance at grace.