Holy Orders is the vocation into the life of ministry. It is a calling for many but not all. All are called to be witnesses of the faith, but not all are called to be pastors, priests, teachers, and nuns. We know this is so because the Holy Spirit appoints us overseers (Acts 20:28) and those overseers are ordained by the laying on of hands for those already appointed (Acts 6:6, 13:3). To further understand laying of hands, please read articles Confirmation and Apostolic Succession.
The Holy Spirit, originally known as Paraclete, is the laminin of Christianity. Equal in divinity to God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son, He, the Holy Spirit, seems to be not get much publicity in the Christian world. The First Person (God), the Second Person (Jesus), and the Third Person (Paraclete). See article Trinity. The Holy Spirit is called the Third Person because He proceeds from God and Jesus, having been sent by them both to do works. We see in scripture that God the Father is never sent, but does the sending; therefore He is considered the First Person. Jesus was sent, as we know, by God the Father. But Jesus also sent us the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus is called the Second Person, because He was sent but also does the sending. But the Holy Spirit is sent, proceeding from the love generated between the Father and Son. The following Biblical passages are to convey a truth in which we will understand that the Holy Spirit is a real person, not an entity or mere life force.
“Call no priest father”; this is what I hear day in and day out. And if it isn’t that, then it is “why do you call them father? Don’t you know what the Bible says?” Sure. I understand that the Bible says the priesthood is spiritual fatherhood. Abraham was called the father of all nations in the Old Testament and is recognized as such according to Romans 4:16-17, “For this reason, it depends on faith, so that it may be a gift, and the promise may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not to those who only adhere to the law but to those who follow the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not exist.” St. Paul names Abraham “our father in the sight of God”. Why? As St. Paul recognizes, “he [Abraham] is the father of many nations.” Didn’t anyone tell St. Paul about the verse “Call no man father” (Matthew 23:9) or did he understand it to mean that we have but one God who is the origin of all? Also, Jesus calls Abraham “father” in John 8:56!
