And miles to go

Celibacy as a Joyful Response

As we begin this New Year, I would like to reflect with you on the call and gift of celibacy in the Church, especially as it pertains to the call and gift to priestly service and religious life. In my school visits with students, I am often asked why I became a priest. I answer that I became a priest because I wanted to help people in their relationship with God, help them through their problems and difficulties, help them to get to heaven. Since I fully believed that this is what God wanted me to do, I was willing to make whatever sacrifice it took to answer that call.

I did not enter seminary formation until college, so I had dated quite regularly during high school and more importantly had fallen in love with a rather mature and beautiful young lady. So at the time I was ordained, I had a practical sense of the commitment I was making in giving up a wife and not having children of my own. Yet, over the years, I have come to appreciate the positive merits of that decision as well. In a real way, it has formed me into who I am and how I relate to God and others.

While Church law did not obligate priests to be celibate until the twelfth century, nevertheless the value of a celibate life was revered and promoted from the earliest days of the Church’s life. (See: the first Church synod in 305 A.D. at Elvira as well as the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea in 325 A.D.) The reasons for this fact are many. First, Jesus himself was celibate and he praised those who remain celibate for the sake of the kingdom. (Matthew 19:12) Secondly, St. Paul urges those who are married to do what is pleasing for the spouse, while at the same time urging those who are unmarried as virgins to "please the Lord." (1 Corinthians 7:32-33) In both cases, the effort at pleasing must be the work of love, a total giving of ourself for the sake of the beloved. Thirdly, a celibate commitment is a sign of God’s Kingdom to come since it reminds us that this world and its attractions are not permanent, but transitory. The fullness of our happiness lies with God in the Kingdom, where there will be neither marriage nor the giving in marriage. (Matthew 22:30) Celibacy in helping us focus on our ultimate destiny calls into question the violent, manipulative, possessive and genitally obsessive values of a secular world.

Celibacy must be fully embraced, however, and renewed on a daily basis. We have all known persons who marry for the wrong reason or refuse to work at their marriage and become bitter over time. The same can be said for celibates, who can fall into a "bachelor" syndrome of living for themselves. The challenge of celibacy is to live joyfully in relationships, first with God and then with the people to whom the celibate is called to live and work. Essential to the first relationship is a deep and ongoing life of prayer and contemplation. Essential to the second relationship is an attitude of compassion and self-giving.

Many will think (and say) that the celibate must necessarily suffer from loneliness. But it must be remembered that loneliness is a condition over which a person does have control. For example, a person caught in a difficult marriage may experience intense feelings of loneliness. The challenge is to transform loneliness into solitude, which is a state of being in harmony with ourself, with God and with others. This state is reflected in the consciousness that allowed the martyrs to undergo torture and death, while nurturing the hope that through their suffering they were entering the fullness of life.

Given the rampant sexual promiscuity of our day, it is not surprising that many people, even among Catholics, do not find value in a celibate commitment. Ironically, some have even invoked the sexual abuse crisis in the Church to advocate a change in the requirement of celibacy for priests. (The irony lies in the fact that those who abused were not faithful to their vow of celibacy and used their sexuality in a destructive rather than a life-giving way.) I personally believe that the "signs of the times" are not requiring us to be less virtuous, but just the opposite. The faithful commitment of celibates reaffirms the fact that sexuality is something sacred and needs to be respected as such. It also tells us, whether married or not, that through a proper use of our sexuality, we have the opportunity to grow in holiness and the practice of virtue. The reason that sexuality is so engaging a subject lies in the fact that how we express our sexuality to a large extent defines the kind of person we are.

In the Church’s Rite of Ordination, I was asked publicly, as a sign of my interior dedication, if I was resolved to remain celibate for the sake of the Kingdom and in life-long service to God and mankind. Only a deep love for Christ, worthy of life itself, could have compelled me to make such a positive commitment. And only Christ’s love for me allows me to persevere in that commitment. In that love I find the strength to live out the adventure of my vocation and in doing so, I find great joy.

God bless you!

January 2004

Falta Mucho por Recorrer

Al empezar este Año, me gustaría reflexionar con ustedes al llamado y al don del celibato en la Iglesia, especialmente porque se refiere al llamado y al don al servicio del sacerdocio y a la vida religiosa. En mis visitas a las escuelas, los estudiantes me preguntan frecuentemente porqué me hize sacerdote. Mi respuesta es porque quize ayudar a los fieles con su relación con Dios, ayudarles con sus problemas y dificultades, ayudarles a ir al cielo. Puesto que creí completamente que eso es lo que Dios quizo que yo haga, ademas, estaba dispuesto a ejercer cualquier sacrificio para responder a ese llamado.

Hasta el siglo XII la ley de la Iglesia no obligó a los sacerdotes que fueran célibes, sin embargo desde sus inicios la entrega en la vida de un célibe fue venerado y fomentado. (Ver: El primer sínodo de la Iglesia en Elvira en el año 305 D.C. como también del primer Concejo Ecuménico en Nicea en el año 325 D.C.) Muchos son las razones para este hecho. En primer lugar, Jesús fue célibe y él honró a los que seguian el célibato por amor al Reino (Mateo 19:12) en segundo lugar, San Pablo animaba a los casados para que agraden a su esposa/o, al mismo tiempo animaba a los solteros a "complacer a Dios." (1 Corintios 7:32-33) En ambos casos, el esfuerzo de complacer debe ser el trabajo del amor, el dar el todo de uno mismo por el ser amado. En tercer lugar, el compromiso del celibato es una señal del Reino de Dios a venir, puesto que nos recuerda que sus atracciones de este mundo no son permanentes pero temporales. La plenitud a nuestra felicidad yace en el Reino de Dios, donde los hombres y mujeres no se casarán. (Mateo 22:30) el celibato ayuda a enfocar en nuestro último destino a un reto a los valores del mundo secular que es violento, manipulativo, posesivo y obsesivo sobre la corporalidad de la sexualidad.

Muchos pensarán (y dirán) que un célibe debe sufrir necesariamente de la soledad. Se debe recordar que la soledad es una condición, la cual una persona tiene control. Por ejemplo, cuando una persona tiene dificultades matrimoniales podría experimentar intensas sensaciones de soledad. El reto es transformar soledad en aislamiento, la cual es una etapa de armonía con uno mismo, con Dios y con los demas. Esta situación se reflejó en el conocimiento que permitió a los mártires sufrir la tortura y muerte, mientras fomentaban la esperanza que por medio de su sufrimiento, ellos estarían entrando a la plenitud de vida.

En el Rito de la Ordenación y en señal a mi dedicación interior, me preguntaron publicamente si estaba determinado a continuar en el celibato por amor al Reino y por siempre al servicio de Dios y de la humanidad. Solo el profundo amor por Cristo, digno de la vida, podría haberme forzado a un compromiso positivo. Y solo el amor de Cristo me permite perseverar a ese compromiso. En ese amor yo encuentro la fortaleza para vivir la aventura de mi vocación y al hacerlo, siento gran alegría.

¡Que Dios los Bendiga!