"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." - Matthew 23:9 "I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." 1 Corinthian 4:15
Perhaps Matthew's Gospel had not yet been written on the day St. Paul wrote his letter.
I imagine Fr. Morris could care less how people address him; wouldn't want to be like those Pharisees in the marketplace.
"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." - Matthew 23:9 In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus is condemning the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He is saying that they desire the titles of respect for their own purposes, not for the glory of God; which is certainly wrong. He is not categorically condemning the use of titles of respect, but rather the misuse of them for one’s self interests.
In searching the New Testament, I came across numerous examples of New Testament authors calling human beings fathers. How do you explain this? Here is a truncated list of some examples:
- Matthew Chapter 1 – Men are called "father" so many times that I quit counting.
- Romans 4:1-18 – St. Paul calls Abraham our father no less than eight times. In fact, the name Abraham means "father of the multitude."
- Romans 9:10 – Isaac is called our father
- 1 Corinthians 4:15 – St. Paul calls himself a father to the Corinthians.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1
- Galatians 1:14
- Ephesians 5:31 and 6:4
- Philippians 2:22 – St. Paul calls himself a father to Timothy
- Colossians 3:21
- 1 Thessalonians. 2:11
- 1 Timothy 5:1
- 2 Timothy 1:3
- Hebrews 1:1, 3:9 and 12:9
I could continue multiplying verses, but I think I’ve already become redundant. The point again is that our earthly "fathers" in the faith are not an end in themselves – like gurus – but that they are representations (albeit sometimes poor ones) of our heavenly Father; as St. Paul says in
Ephesians 3:14-15 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."
The Catholic practice is, and always has been, the same as the early Church (Catholic Church) that St. Paul is called "father" in those passages because he is a spiritual father. Priests are called "father" because they, like St. Paul, are spiritual fathers.