In the last post I showed how the Old Testament used the words that Fundamentalists believe are absolutely condemned by Christ in Matthew. Peter, John, and Paul continually speak about spiritual father/son and father/child relationships. These Fundamentalists need to read their Bible more often, because these three Apostles use these references often.Peter is the first example. Peter referrers to Mark as his son in 1 Peter 5:13 when he states "The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark." The apostles sometimes referred to entire churches and communities as their children!
John follows the same tradition as Peter in 1 John 2:1 when he calls the church "my little children". Furthermore, John addresses men in his congregations as "fathers" in 1 John 2:13 as he writes "I write unto you, fathers, because you have known him, who is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one."
Paul is the most prime example of spiritual fatherhood as he writes in 2 Corinthians 12:14, "Behold now the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burthensome unto you. For I seek not the things that are yours, but you. For neither ought the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children." Paul continues in Galatians 4:19 "my little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you!"
Paul regularly and clearly referred to Timothy as his child: "to Timothy, my beloved son in faith. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus our Lord" (1 Timothy 1:2); "to Timothy my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from Christ Jesus our Lord" (2 Timothy 1:2); "for this cause have I sent to you Timothy, who is my dearest son and faithful in the Lord; who will put you in mind of my ways, which are in Christ Jesus; as I teach every where in every church" (1 Corinthians 4:17); "this charge I commit to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you, that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare" (1 Timothy 1:18); "you then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1); and "but Timothy’s worth you know, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel" (Philippians 2:22).
Paul also referred to another of his converts in this father-child way in Titus 1:4: "to Titus, my true child in a common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." There's also Onesimus in Philemon 1:10 "I beseech thee for my son, whom I have begotten in my bands, Onesimus." None of these men were Paul’s literal (as in biological) sons. Instead, Paul is emphasizing his spiritual fatherhood with them.
There's also a clear reference to the theology of the spiritual fatherhood of priests in Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 4:14-15, "I write not these things to confound you; but I admonish you as my dearest children. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you."
By referring to these people as spiritual sons and spiritual children, Peter, John, and Paul imply their own role as spiritual fathers. The Bible speaks frequently about this spiritual fatherhood, and we Catholics acknowledge it and follow the custom of the apostles by calling priests Father. To not acknowledge this is a failure to recognize and honor a great gift that G-d has bestowed on the Church, a spiritual fatherhood of the priesthood.
As Catholics, we know that as members of a parish we have been committed to a priest’s spiritual care, and should therefore have great filial affection for priests and call them Father. Priests, in turn, should follow the apostles’ Biblical example by referring to members of their flock as "my son" or "my child". Sadly, fewer and fewer priests are calling their flock by these terms, which weakens the symbology that G-d is trying to give us. It makes it less apparent what is meant when we call a priest Father if our Father does not call us his children. Here are a few more verses that might satisfy your appetite: (cf. Galatians 4:19; 1 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 2:1; Philemon 10; 1 Pet. 5:13; 1 John 2:1; 3 John 4).
Jesus is not against acknowledging biological or spiritual fatherhood. It was He who gave the apostles their roles as spiritual fathers, and it was the Holy Spirit who recorded this role in the Bible. To acknowledge spiritual fatherhood is to acknowledge the Truth and affirm the Bible, and no amount of anti-Catholic grumbling will ever change that!
In the next and final post in this series, we will look closely at the verse itself and what it is the Christ is really trying to tell us.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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