One day I walked into a hospital room.The nurse introduced the patient in that room as catholic. There was a large Mexican family inside the room and I felt confident because most of the Mexican people are respectful of the priests. I have introduced myself as Fr. Thomas and the lady who sat at the tail of the hospital bed responded “ Hi Thomas, welcome to the club”. The manner and the tone of her address was! indicative of a lesser acceptance. That lady made the next remark “ if you like join our church and we will make you our pastor" I smiled and expressed my appreciation by saying “ Thank you very much”. That was a pentecostal family. They are at imes aggressive and or offensive ( I am speaking from my experience, not to offend any joynet member, if you belong to them or were part of this religious denomination at one time or the other. I respect every human person regardless of their religious preference and or nationality.)
“ Thomas are you a priest?”, It seemed that lady had some agenda. I checked if I had the Roman collar on and that was in place and I got the message that, it is wrong timing for ministry to that patient. I tried to intercept and ask how the patient was doing but that lady said “ I wonder if you Catholics know what Jesus has said”. Before I could say a word she remarked “ Jesus said call no one on the earth your father, you have but one father in heaven” and that was her agenda. I felt happy that one ! of the nurses came in and so I could exit that situation. I felt bad at that event. I have told myself “ I should have been prepared for the worst before entering any room”. As I passed by the chapel, I sat there and said a short prayer for the patient in that room to whom I couldn’t minister who was going for an open heart surg. I have started researching into this topic . When Jesus said “ call no man father, master or rabbi”, what Jesus meant was not to seek teachers other than God. The indoctrination of the so called teachers shouldn’t replace the commands of God. The people in question in this statement are the pharisees who lived a comfortable life, forgetting the law of God. The pharisees didn’t like Jesus and hi! s teachings. They were afraid and hateful of Jesus. To trick Jesus they have asked “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Roman Emperor” Lk.20.22 which made Jesus to retort “Give to the emperor what belongs to him and give to God what belongs to Him” Lk.20.25. There were many incidents wherein the Pharisees expressed their denial of Jesus. One day when Jesus was entering the house of Zachaeus, the Pharisees grumbled. Lk.19.6. Jesus made a parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector, because of their behavior. In that parable Jesus has said “ I tell you, the tax collector, not the Pharisee was in right with God” lk.17.14. The Pharisees named their own teachers as the “ ultimate fathers”. The Pharisees fed on their own food. They didn’t rely on God. They fed on their own spiritual food as I understand and they didn’t seek after God’s perfect food. They were self righteous. In fact they have replaced God’s law with their own teachings. No wonder an upset Jesus said to his di! sciples “be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, I mean their hypocrisy” Lk 12.1 On a sabath day, Jesus and his disciples passed through the standing grainThe disciples felt hungry so they began to pull off the heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees spied thjis and took jesus to task " Yuor disciples are doing what is prohibitted on the sabath" Mt.12.2. Jesus asked them to exercise mercy rather than to offer animal sacrifices to God. Jesus said to them “ If you understood the meaning of the text , 'it is kindness that I want not animal sacrifices' . ” Mt. 12.7. Jesus was sa! d that the Pharisees had closed their minds towards justice and Jesus said “If you really knew What this means you wouldn’t have condemned who are not guilty” Mt.12.7. It is evident in the Bible how the Pharisees and the teachers of the law replaced the law of God. Coming back to the topic “ call no one father”, I feel that the title “father” is used in the Bible to denote a teacher of spiritual things. The Aposltes were addressed as fathers. We read in 1st John “ I am writing to you my children” 1 John 2.1. The expression “ children” means that it is coming from an elder or from someone who is like a father. St. Paul justifies why he is addressed “father”. "I have become like your father by bringing the good news to you<! /SPAN>” 1 Cor4.17. St. Paul in his letter to Tmothy, addressed Timothy as “ my true son in faith” 1 Tim.1.2. Paul has called Timothy as his true son in faith which implies Paul’s spiritual paternity. In Tim 2 Paul calls again “Timothy my son” 2 Tim 1.2. The Apostles had the tendency to name the christians as their children in faith. The term christians was not prevelant at that time. These fellow Christians were not the biological children of the paostles. They were children in faith which means that the Apostles qualified themselves as “ fathers in faith”. The Biblical requirements to be called 'fathers’ was to plant the seed of faith and to form churches or communities, to feed the people with spiritual nourishments. The Apostles preached the Word of God and we may wonder why the Catholics call their priests “fathers” . The Catholic priests are addressed “fathers’ because they image this name “ father” like the Apostles. The pries! ts are important in the Church. They feed the people with the Word of God and give the faithful the Holy Communion . This Spiritual food sustains the faithful and their spiritual life. St. Paul’s teaching is vital in this regard. Paul has said to Timothy and Titus that the priests should be good and responsible people. ( It would be helpful to read about the selection of men to be Bishops and Deacons. 1 Tim.3.1-13).Their credibility is important in enabling them to carry out their mission of being the “fathers” in the Catholic Church When I delve deep into the teachings of the church, I feel good being called “ father”, the same way I am addressed “brother” in faith. God Bless us Fr Thomas Mathew/October 11/2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: Click Here **************************************************************** This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. 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