'Call no one on earth your father...'

'Call no one on earth your father...'

Some find this saying of Jesus rather perplexing despite the fact Jesus is clearly not speaking literally.

A protestant minister once told me adamantly that he could not call me 'Father' and quoted this very verse. I asked him what his people called him and he replied 'Pastor'. This, of course, means Shepherd, in Latin, so I asked him if he would not agree that we have only one Shepherd 'and he is in heaven'?

Even the English word 'Mr' is derived from the word Master.

In a parish I supplied in recently a parishioner asked me what I preferred to be called: Father or John? I reflected for a moment and answered 'Father'. She screwed up her face disapprovingly and said 'Don't you think that's .. um .. putting yourself on a pedestal?'

Her car was behind her, full of what I assumed were her grandchildren, and I asked her if they called her grandma or Bev (not her real name)? She was taken aback and energetically replied 'No, they call me Nan!' And so I asked her 'Don't you think that's putting yourself on a pedestal?' To give her credit she immediately saw (and accepted) my point.

Thirty-two years ago I gave up a very satisfying life as a secondary school teacher to become a spiritual father to God's Catholic people. All I can say is that I am grateful to all those who acknowledge and remind me of this fact by calling me 'Father'.

And, as one parishioner recently told me, 'When we call you Father we remind you of your responsibilities towards us.'