Father Nick Blaha on Nostr: Perhaps Jesus was not actually concerned about his followers being so impenetrably ...

Perhaps Jesus was not actually concerned about his followers being so impenetrably thick that they couldn’t tell the difference between a weak human being born to die, and the “immortal invisible God only wise”… I would suggest that using words like “holy father” in analogous senses about two such radically different orders of being is so commonplace as to not require comment or defense, and certainly creates no confusion on the part of anyone older than the age of three.

I get called Jesus and God all the time … by three year olds. Everyone else just chuckles.

I also work regularly with evangelical, Bible-only Christians who want nothing to do with calling me Father. I explain to them that it’s more a reminder to me that I am called to lay down my life, as fathers must, rather than to demand blind obedience from God’s flock. My parishioners certainly don’t obey me blindly. I invite the Sola Scriptura Christians to use the title, in that sense, as an act of charity. They always decline, so there are a few terms I suggest as alternatives. In the end, if they call me Nick, I’m not worried about it, but I pray for an increase in brotherly love on the part of my fellow believers. 😉