Why a priest is referred to as "Father"

Dear Friends,

The following is an article that explains why a priest is referred to as "Father":

The citation regarding Jesus asking us to call no one on earth  "father" since we only have one in heaven is not interpreted correctly, being that the word used ("called") is not understood thoroughly, in its proper context. "Father" comes from the latin "pater" and means "begetter". Technically speaking, a father is a male parent who begets or generates human life. This could be individual or collective, physical or spiritual in meaning. Jesus addressed St. Joseph as "father", just like we all do in regard to our dads. When He was lost in the temple, Mary said to Him: "Your father and I have been searching for you".  In the Old Testament, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are commonly known as the "patriarchs" (the great fathers) since they were the initiators of the Jewish race. The early Christian writers are known as the "fathers of the Church" since they were the first to continue transmitting something of the word of God after the Evangelists. If someone is a great hero of his nation or founds a city, he is referred to as a "father of his country" or "father of the city".

When Dives is burning in hell, he asks Lazarus to intercede for him before father Abraham (Jesus Himself is using the term as he recounts the parable). The reason why we call an ordained catholic priest "father" is because of his power of spiritual paternity before the Church community. When a priest prays, suffers, preaches and administers the sacraments, he is bringing into being (spiritually speaking) new souls into the reign of God. Those who address him as "father" recognize and accept this uniqueness of his nature and see themselves as the children begotten through his instrumentality.

In Jerusalem, Jesus saw the falseness, pomp and vanity of the high priests and Pharisees and asked his Apostles not to imitate them. He especially pointed out how they loved to surround themselves with titles and honors, which to Him, was a sterile paternity. It is this type of "fatherhood" and way of utilizing a title that Jesus was prohibiting the use of the word. Jesus was trying to hit home the idea that His Father in heaven, could, in fact, be the only true source of goodness, and not empty litanies invented by men  to attract attention and vain honors upon themselves (especially when they were nothing more than a cesspool of lies). Jesus simply did not want someone taking God's name in vain by not living up to the truth implied by the title. What Jesus is really saying is "Do not call someone father if you know he is truly not one (like the way the Pharisees are) since he does not reflect what the one real Father in heaven has taught and commanded us, or else he will be a counter-witness to the very title he bears."

Anthony Mellace