Do Not Call Anyone on Earth ‘Father'-Not Even my Priest?

The Bible tells us not to call anyone on earth father. I never questioned why we as Catholics call our priests “father”. I assumed there was nothing wrong with applying this title. I normally call my own father “dad”. But, likewise I would not question the validity of calling him father either.

But, Matthew 23:9 says- “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.” So according to Jesus we cannot call our priests as such, nor can we refer to our dads in this manner. But, is this really what Jesus meant? Let’s look at the rest of this passage from Matthew.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴ They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacterieswide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

There are a couple things to note with this passage. First, Jesus also seems to suggest that we cannot call anyone “teacher” either (verse 8). After all according to John 1:38 rabbi is translated as teacher. “They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”” Second, He says call no one “instructor”. So, what gives? Are we supposed to take this reading literally?

Matthew 23:9 (as well as verses 8 and 10) has to be read in context with verses 1-7 in mind. Jesus is admonishing “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees”. He implies that their deeds do not conform to their teaching. That they were prideful –“ They make their phylacterieswide and the tassels on their garments long;”-done to call attention to themselves. So, Jesus is really instructing his disciples on how to conduct themselves. Contrasting the right way with how the “teachers of the law and the Pharisees” conducted themselves. Therefore, we can conclude that his words in this instance are not to be taken literally.

To bolster this argument we should consider how Jesus, St. Stephen, St. Paul and St. John along with the writer of Hebrews uses the term “father” in other passages of scripture:

• Matthew 19:19: just four chapters earlier in response to a man’s question on how to achieve salvation Jesus responds in part with “honor your father and mother”. He applies the title of “father” to the men who are our human fathers.
• Acts 7:2: “To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me!” Here St. Stephen replies to the question by the high priest with a reference to “father”.
• Romans 4:16-17: The patriarch Abraham is referred to as “the father of us all” and “a father of many nations”.
• Hebrews 12:7-9: The author of this letter says “we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it”
• 1 John 2:13-14: 13 John says “I am writing to you, fathers”, and “I write to you, fathers”

So, then did Jesus disregard his own command in Matthew 23:9 of “do not call anyone on earth ‘father,”? And did, St. Stephen, St. Paul and St. John along with the writer of Hebrews ignore Jesus’ command? No, Jesus understood the context of what he was speaking in Matthew 23. The others would have as well. With all this in mind we should have no reservations in referring to our dads as father. And when we call our priests “father” we should keep this verse in mind:

¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:14-15)

Our priests become a “father through the gospel” in the sense that they are our spiritual fathers gently serving and guiding us in accordance with Christ’s teaching.