In which Red Neck Woman tackles the topic of priestly celibacy, and we learn that priests and other religious who take vows of celibacy are bringing about God's Kingdom here on earth.
(Can you tell I read Pooh recently?)
I think my favorite part of this post was the list RNW found at Scripture Catholic. Here's a sampling, but for the full list, as well as RNW's insights on the subject and a link to a New Advent article on the same topic, go here.
Matt. 19:11-12 - Jesus says celibacy is a gift from God and whoever can bear it should bear it. Jesus praises and recommends celibacy for full-time ministers in the Church. Because celibacy is a gift from God, those who criticize the Church's practice of celibacy are criticizing God and this wonderful gift He bestows on His chosen ones.
Matt. 19:29 - Jesus says that whoever gives up children for the sake of His name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. Jesus praises celibacy when it is done for the sake of His kingdom.
Matt. 22:30 - Jesus explains that in heaven there are no marriages. To bring about Jesus' kingdom on earth, priests live the heavenly consecration to God by not taking a wife in marriage. This way, priests are able to focus exclusively on the spiritual family, and not have any additional pressures of the biological family (which is for the vocation of marriage). This also makes it easier for priests to be transferred to different parishes where they are most needed without having to worry about the impact of their transfer on wife and children.
1 Cor 7:1 – Paul teaches that it is well for a man not to touch a woman. This is the choice that the Catholic priests of the Roman rite freely make.
1 Cor. 7:7 - Paul also acknowledges that celibacy is a gift from God and wishes that all were celibate like he is.
In all, there are fourteen Scripture verses cited and summarized. I've added the links for you on the above, so you'll need to pull out your Bible for the others.
1 comment:
Why do people trip so much about priests taking vows of celibacy? Nobody's holding guns to their heads - they do it of their own volition. Silliness. And they say Catholics are the ones that get all up in everyone else's business.
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