A Penitent Blogger
Celibacy
In today’s second reading (1 Corinthians 7:32-35), St. Paul strongly encourages celibacy.
This was not a popular concept at that time and it is definitely not popular today.
There are bad reasons for celibacy’s unpopularity (selfishness, fixation on pleasure, moral weakness) but there are also other reasons – one of which was expressed quite beautifully by the Holy Father in his encyclical this week:
"(Man) is somehow incomplete, driven by nature to seek in another the part that can make him whole, the idea that only in communion with the opposite sex can he become 'complete'. The biblical account thus concludes with a prophecy about Adam: 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh' (Gen 2:24).
"Two aspects of this are important. First, eros is somehow rooted in man's very nature; Adam is a seeker, who 'abandons his mother and father' in order to find woman; only together do the two represent complete humanity and become 'one flesh'. The second aspect is equally important. From the standpoint of creation, eros directs man towards marriage, to a bond that is unique and definitive; thus, and only thus, does it fulfill its deepest purpose."
Deus caritas est, 11 (excerpt)
The Holy Father does not specify here how this reality is to be lived out fully by those who cannot marry, including the celibate, but he gives us a direction by writing of the love and union between God and man.
"(Man) can indeed enter into union with God—his primordial aspiration. But this union is no mere fusion, a sinking in the nameless ocean of the Divine; it is a unity which creates love, a unity in which both God and man remain themselves and yet become fully one."
Deus caritas est, 10
We see this manifested most strikingly in the writings of the Saints, most famously St. Teresa of Avila, who writes of her spiritual encounters with God “using boldly erotic imagery” (to borrow the Holy Father’s phrase – cf, Deus caritas est, 9). Indeed, many who consecrate themselves to the Lord in vows of chastity explicitly identify themselves as “spouses of Christ.”
Those who are married, of course, are also called to mystical union with the Lord, but just as there are special gifts and burdens associated with marriage, so also are there special burdens and special gifts associated with celibacy – gifts that benefit not just the celibate, but the entire Church.
The celibate may have, as St. Paul says in today’s reading, the gift of “adherence to the Lord without distraction,” but the presence of graced celibates in the world is a gift for all of us: a unique and bold proclamation of that mystical union with God to which we are all called.
The presence of graced celibates in the world is also a unique and bold proclamation against the way of the world that turns eros and thus human beings into commodities (cf Deus caritas est, 5).
We are not commodities. We are children of God – created for and called to real love, in this world and in the next – something far greater and freer than the limited thrills that the world offers (thrills that come with hidden costs).
Graced celibates are a sign and a reality therefore that the world today desperately needs.
This kind of celibacy, of course, cannot be gained by strength of will alone: it is a special gift of God.
We need to pray for a greater pouring out of that gift among us: that many more young men and women may hear the call to celibacy and to vowed chastity in the service of the Lord.
We need to pray and we also need to encourage.
We also need to support men and women who are already committed to that life.
We must not let ourselves be stopped by the public and grievous failures we have seen far too often. Abuse of the gift by some does not take away its value – it only increases the need for a greater and more perfect manifestation of that gift among us by the grace of God.
Nor does celibacy denigrate marriage or the devout single life – quite the opposite: the power of graced celibacy as a sign and instrument of union with God strengthens all of us – whatever our state in life may be – for we are all called to mystical union with the Lord.
Graced celibacy is a powerful sign and a precious, wonderful gift.
All of us need to do whatever we can to make that gift a greater reality for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the world, and for the sake of each one of us.
This was not a popular concept at that time and it is definitely not popular today.
There are bad reasons for celibacy’s unpopularity (selfishness, fixation on pleasure, moral weakness) but there are also other reasons – one of which was expressed quite beautifully by the Holy Father in his encyclical this week:
"(Man) is somehow incomplete, driven by nature to seek in another the part that can make him whole, the idea that only in communion with the opposite sex can he become 'complete'. The biblical account thus concludes with a prophecy about Adam: 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh' (Gen 2:24).
"Two aspects of this are important. First, eros is somehow rooted in man's very nature; Adam is a seeker, who 'abandons his mother and father' in order to find woman; only together do the two represent complete humanity and become 'one flesh'. The second aspect is equally important. From the standpoint of creation, eros directs man towards marriage, to a bond that is unique and definitive; thus, and only thus, does it fulfill its deepest purpose."
Deus caritas est, 11 (excerpt)
The Holy Father does not specify here how this reality is to be lived out fully by those who cannot marry, including the celibate, but he gives us a direction by writing of the love and union between God and man.
"(Man) can indeed enter into union with God—his primordial aspiration. But this union is no mere fusion, a sinking in the nameless ocean of the Divine; it is a unity which creates love, a unity in which both God and man remain themselves and yet become fully one."
Deus caritas est, 10
We see this manifested most strikingly in the writings of the Saints, most famously St. Teresa of Avila, who writes of her spiritual encounters with God “using boldly erotic imagery” (to borrow the Holy Father’s phrase – cf, Deus caritas est, 9). Indeed, many who consecrate themselves to the Lord in vows of chastity explicitly identify themselves as “spouses of Christ.”
Those who are married, of course, are also called to mystical union with the Lord, but just as there are special gifts and burdens associated with marriage, so also are there special burdens and special gifts associated with celibacy – gifts that benefit not just the celibate, but the entire Church.
The celibate may have, as St. Paul says in today’s reading, the gift of “adherence to the Lord without distraction,” but the presence of graced celibates in the world is a gift for all of us: a unique and bold proclamation of that mystical union with God to which we are all called.
The presence of graced celibates in the world is also a unique and bold proclamation against the way of the world that turns eros and thus human beings into commodities (cf Deus caritas est, 5).
We are not commodities. We are children of God – created for and called to real love, in this world and in the next – something far greater and freer than the limited thrills that the world offers (thrills that come with hidden costs).
Graced celibates are a sign and a reality therefore that the world today desperately needs.
This kind of celibacy, of course, cannot be gained by strength of will alone: it is a special gift of God.
We need to pray for a greater pouring out of that gift among us: that many more young men and women may hear the call to celibacy and to vowed chastity in the service of the Lord.
We need to pray and we also need to encourage.
We also need to support men and women who are already committed to that life.
We must not let ourselves be stopped by the public and grievous failures we have seen far too often. Abuse of the gift by some does not take away its value – it only increases the need for a greater and more perfect manifestation of that gift among us by the grace of God.
Nor does celibacy denigrate marriage or the devout single life – quite the opposite: the power of graced celibacy as a sign and instrument of union with God strengthens all of us – whatever our state in life may be – for we are all called to mystical union with the Lord.
Graced celibacy is a powerful sign and a precious, wonderful gift.
All of us need to do whatever we can to make that gift a greater reality for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the world, and for the sake of each one of us.
posted by Penitens | 8:11 AM
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