'Priest' or 'Father'...What to call him?

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asor

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Can someone enlighten me on this one. I have some serious doubts about calling a priest ‘Father’. I feel that only God is worthy of being embraced with such a title in the religious arena. I’m a cradle Catholic, but I’m not too sure about this one. I’ll continue to pray on it.
 
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SwordofLight:
wrong forum, but I don’t mind calling preists father
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Hey how do I get rep points? I posted more than you. :confused:
 
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asor:
Can someone enlighten me on this one. I have some serious doubts about calling a priest ‘Father’. I feel that only God is worthy of being embraced with such a title in the religious arena. I’m a cradle Catholic, but I’m not too sure about this one. I’ll continue to pray on it.
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I have a friend who feels the same way you do. He addresses priests as “Reverend Smith” or “Reverend Jones” and they never take offense. :cool:
 
I recommend the Catholic Answers tract on “Call No Man Father” which explains the Catholic position.

I think most people are unaware that in the early days of our country, Catholic priests were referred to as Mister even by Catholics. This was in large part due to the fact that Catholics were such a tiny minority and generally discriminated against in law and in practice. It was only with the great waves of immigration from Catholic countries that the tile of Father, commonly used in various European languages was taken up here.
 
BADLY WORDED QUESTION.

Because you explicitly say “…be called Father”, it seems you are referring to the role of our heavenly Father. When we call a man father, what is the intention of the name you are giving a person? If the intention is calling a man Father(God), then it is not good.

The correct answer to your poll is
Catholic or Not, only God is worthy of this title.

This is a Dangerous poll.
Non-Catholics can use this to incorrectly show that we call our priests “Father” when we actually call him father(our religious father, among other things.)

Of course why do you capitalize P in priest? All this is technicality. If you are just being casual with your use of capitalization, I would assume the spirit of your poll is an innocent one.
 
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o_witness:
BADLY WORDED QUESTION.

This is a Dangerous poll.
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Agreed, and it appears rather condescending at that. I hope his/hre heart was in the right place. :confused:
 
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asor:
Can someone enlighten me on this one. I have some serious doubts about calling a priest ‘Father’. I feel that only God is worthy of being embraced with such a title in the religious arena. I’m a cradle Catholic, but I’m not too sure about this one. I’ll continue to pray on it.
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I often thought about this, and then it dawned on me that all priests carry the Host incase of emergency, so when we salute a priest I think it’s mostly to do with the fact that we are greeting JESUS, and as JESUS and the Father are one then well it’s a nice gesture.
Oh I’m probably wrong before you all start giving me a hard time:( but it’s a nice thought anyway.
 
The whole “call no man father” passage being applied to the title given to priests is just an example of how some people allow their preconceptions to color how they read scripture.

What is everyone celebrating this Sunday? :tsktsk: Better not say it. Jesus said not to.

When one assumes that the bible is just a manual on what’s wrong with the Catholic Church, one can find all sorts of little snippets to take out of context and support one’s preconceived notions. (Church of Thyatira anyone?)
 
Richard Lamb:
Why do you feel that way…?
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Hi, Richard Lamb. Why do I feel this way?..well, I know the Bible makes reference to our human fathers or someone taking on a ‘fatherly figure’ or something similar. However, when it comes to a ‘religious’ or spiritual role God seems the only one worthy to hold this title (if I may call it this). I feel uncomfortable calling a priest Father when I’m talking with one. I guess it’s because I feel so blessed to have been ‘chosen’ to actually feel God’s love. He has touched my life so profoundly that I feel his presence in my everyday life. I’ve learned so much from Him and of Him that it’s changed my thinking towards this issue. I didn’t have a problem with it 8 years prior, but since then I feel God’s love in my life and feel so differently now with regards to His place in our world. I don’t believe that a priest, just because he’s serving God in such a role, deserves to also carry that title. I mean…when you talk to a priest, for example, how can one say, “Father, I pray that our Father hears my prayers…”? I’ve read some of the articles sent to me regarding this, but they still don’t convince me. I don’t know…I guess I just need to pray on it some more. Thanks for asking.

:confused: Asor
 
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Socrates:
The whole “call no man father” passage being applied to the title given to priests is just an example of how some people allow their preconceptions to color how they read scripture.

What is everyone celebrating this Sunday? :tsktsk: Better not say it. Jesus said not to.

When one assumes that the bible is just a manual on what’s wrong with the Catholic Church, one can find all sorts of little snippets to take out of context and support one’s preconceived notions. (Church of Thyatira anyone?)
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Hi, Socrates. Well, I don’t have a problem with our ‘flesh’ fathers (so I do believe in acknowledging Fathers’ Day), even the Bible addresses our ancestors as such. It’s when FATHER is placed in a religious role that I’m struggling with.

Later. 🙂 Asor
 
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hawkeye:
I often thought about this, and then it dawned on me that all priests carry the Host incase of emergency, so when we salute a priest I think it’s mostly to do with the fact that we are greeting JESUS, and as JESUS and the Father are one then well it’s a nice gesture.
Oh I’m probably wrong before you all start giving me a hard time:( but it’s a nice thought anyway.
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Hi, Hawkeye. Thanks for your thoughts. Not to worry…I won’t give you a hard time. You’ve touched on why I’m confused, though. Precisely because Jesus/God should not be compared to humans (other than Jesus’ walk on earth), it’s why I have a hard time with ‘Father’ applied to a man, especially when addressing one religiously. I guess this is the separation we should make. The Bible addresses our ‘flesh’ ancestors as our fathers, but spiritually (or religiously) only God is worthy of this name. I don’t believe there’s an inbetween role.

Thanks. 🙂 Asor
 
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asor:
Can someone enlighten me on this one. I have some serious doubts about calling a priest ‘Father’. I feel that only God is worthy of being embraced with such a title in the religious arena. I’m a cradle Catholic, but I’m not too sure about this one. I’ll continue to pray on it.
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Two of the most relevant passages in scripture to this topic:
“Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4:15)
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and…
“I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment.” (Philem. 10)
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Let’s get over our scrupulosity please. BTW, I don’t remember seeing 1 Cor 4:15 in the Call No Man Father tract. 😉
 
asor,
  1. What is your definition of Father as used in your post?
Can you see that there different uses for the word father even if it is a title?

The church is not suggesting when you call a priest father that all of a sudden he is your heavenly Father, God, Lord, King.

There is nothing wrong with calling a priest father nor is there anything wrong with NOT calling him father either.

There are so many things that are in that Bible and we have to be careful not to take everything literally.

Another thing, the Catholic faith at one time did allow priest to be married and the Church could change this discipline in the future. Let’s assume your living in the period where the Church allowed married priests. What would you call your biological father if he were a priest? How do we know that when you call him father your are not calling him Father(intended for God)? The difference is harder to discern in the spoken language, but it can be discerned in the written language. We can tell what someone is intending to convey when they write god rather than God. Which one of these conveys my Heavenly Father? When you say father or god for that matter, you have to understand your intent when using the word/title.

You can call a priest father as long as you’er not intended it as the title of our Heavenly Father as in “Our Father who art heaven…”.

Just somethings to think about.
 
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Redeemerslove:
Two of the most relevant passages in scripture to this topic:

and…

Let’s get over our scrupulosity please. BTW, I don’t remember seeing 1 Cor 4:15 in the Call No Man Father tract. 😉
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If it’s good enough for St. Paul (1 COr 4:15) it’s good enough for me! 👍
 
“As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. When Elisha saw it happen he cried out, “My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!” But when he could no longer see him, Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two. Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle which had fallen from him, and went back…”.2 Kings 2:11-13

Elijah was not Elisha’s father in the flesh. See 1 Kings 19:19-20

One might say this was belfore Jesus’s admonition, but Paul was after Christ

“Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” (1 Cor 4:15)

and…

“I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment.” (Philem. 10)

Jesus was making the point, as He did elswhere, that the Pharisees should not act so superior and proud by claiming Abraham as their “father” and claiming his authority and that of Moses for themselves as if they were on the same level of authority and had the same relationship with God as Abraham and Moses. Jesus then goes on to pronounce the curses or woes on the Pharisees for their hypocracy.
 
Mt 23:8 also says not to call anyone teacher or rabbi. Why doesn’t that get equal play?
 
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asor:
Hi, Hawkeye. Thanks for your thoughts. Not to worry…I won’t give you a hard time. You’ve touched on why I’m confused, though. Precisely because Jesus/God should not be compared to humans (other than Jesus’ walk on earth), it’s why I have a hard time with ‘Father’ applied to a man, especially when addressing one religiously. I guess this is the separation we should make. The Bible addresses our ‘flesh’ ancestors as our fathers, but spiritually (or religiously) only God is worthy of this name. I don’t believe there’s an inbetween role.

Thanks. 🙂 Asor
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On the same note we used to call the nuns mother 😃 does anybody know why we would call a nun mother ?
Is it the same as the priest standing in for God, or Christs representive on earth, and maybe the nuns standing in for Mary :confused:
Mother superior and so forth :ehh:
 
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