A week or so ago, I wrote about a popular Catholic priest, Father King, in our area who was leaving the priesthood and possibly pursuing marriage.
This evening I received a copy of a sermon delivered by another local priest, Father Burba, on the priesthood. He also counters some of the points made by Father King in his resignation speech.
This is just an excellent read. If you have been looking for compelling argumentation for the celibant priesthood – this is it!
30th Sunday of the Year: B, October 29, 2006
Today is National Priesthood Sunday, a day when the Church calls us to reflect on the vital importance that the Priesthood plays in our lives.
Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, a man is ordained to become an “Alter Christus”…”another Christ”. Now, what does that mean? What does it mean to BE another Christ?
Does it mean that a priest simply acts in the Name of Christ, or takes the place of Christ? No. Quite obviously, NO ONE can take the place of Christ!
No One!
Rather, to be an “Alter Christus” means that, in an awesome way, by the power of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, so intimate a union exists between Christ and His priest…such a sacramental identification takes place between Christ and his priest…that it truly is THE LORD HIMSELF Who acts in him and through him. The Lord Himself!
This is why at the Consecration at Mass, the priest says, not…”This is the Body of Christ given up for you”…but, speaking the words of Our Lord…says “This is MY Body”…because he and Christ are as ONE at that moment…vitally linking the Mass we celebrate today to the Sacrifice of the Cross & to the Last Supper.
Or, in the Sacrament of Penance, the priest says, “I absolve you from your sins”. Only God can forgive sins, and the priest CAN say those words because Christ is the One Who is forgiving sins in him & through him, just as He did when He walked on the earth.
Yes, through ordination, a man becomes an “Alter Christus” and shares in the saving work of Christ the High Priest in a most special and necessary way.
As many…if not most of you—know, 2 Sundays ago, Fr. John King, a priest assigned at St. Hilary’s—and a very gifted man—announced that he was leaving the priesthood. It shocked & stunned many, including myself. His announcement was placed on the St. Hilary web site for all to hear.
But even though he does leave the ministry…and I most fervently pray that he changes his mind…the words we heard in the 2nd reading today are still true: “You are a Priest forever”. Even if a man leaves the priesthood & is laicized, he is still, and always will be a priest configured to Christ the High Priest. He just is no longer allowed to function as a priest because he has freely—and sadly—chosen to do something else.
Often times, when a man leaves the priesthood, celibacy—or the promise made not to marry & to live a life of continence—is brought up as an issue. It is so important for us all to understand this, because there is so much misleading information & half truths being spread about it, above all, in the media. And a half truth, as they say, can be as good as a lie.
For example, is it true that in the early Church married men were ordained to the priesthood? Yes, it is. It is absolutely true.
BUT. That is not the whole truth about the matter. Abundant evidence is available to show that while married men were ordained to the priesthood, they and their wives were required to live a life of continency afterwards. Which means, that they were to live “like a brother and sister”…like Mary and St. Joseph…refraining from every further use of marriage and having no more children.
This fact is never mentioned in the discussion of celibacy.
Take for example, St. Hilary, the great bishop of Poitiers in France, who died in the year 367 AD. Was he married? Yes. Did he have any children? Yes… a daughter named Apra. But, it is ALSO recorded that St. Hilary was living apart from his wife and daughter.
Another common half truth is that the obligation of celibacy—which is perfect continence—only began at the I Lateran Council in the year 1215, and that it was legislated—very simply—to keep control of Church property…so that it couldn’t be left to a priest’s wife and children.
Now, is this true? Again, not exactly. The roots of celibacy or continence go back to Christ Jesus Our Lord Himself, Who taught: “Some men are incapable of sexual activity from birth; some have been deliberately made so; and some there are…He said…who have freely renounced sex for the sake of God’s reign.” (Mt. 19:12ff)
We know that the Apostles followed Our Lord’s words & example.
As St. Peter once said to Him, “We have left everything to follow you. What can we expect from it?”
And in reply, Our Lord tells them, “Truly I say to you…everyone who has left home or wife, brothers, parents, or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God will receive a plentiful return in this age & life everlasting in the age to come.” (Lk 18:28ff) The Apostles left EVERYTHING –including marital intimacy–to dedicate themselves whole-heartedly to Christ & His work.
And so, the obligation of those ordained to live celibate or continent lives can be traced to the very beginnings of the Church. Commonly understood to be an unwritten Apostolic ‘Tradition’…a tradition received from the Apostles… it was handed down & gradually took the form of written laws and regulations. We have some of these regulations from as early as about the year 300 AD.
Now, was this continence ALWAYS observed by every member of the clergy everywhere?
No, no it was not. And this is why as time passed, we find more and more laws enacted by the Church trying to enforce it.
But the biggest question to reflect on concerning celibacy, I think, is this. Some say that they can see no compelling reason for it, and therefore the Church should change the rules.
But the Church DOES see value in it…great value…which explains why…down through the ages…she has fought off every effort to abandon it. And its value has nothing to do with denigrating marriage or keeping control of property.
Rather, She sees a clear link between celibacy & priesthood and this link…and therefore it’s value…is based on that essential affinity, bond, or likeness between Christ & His priest.
Although He was celibate, Jesus Our Lord does have a Bride! His Church! And since the priest is an ‘Alter Christus”, the Church wishes to be loved by him in the same way that Christ loves her – in a total & exclusive manner.
As St. Paul said: “An unmarried man is busy with the Lord’s affairs, concerned with pleasing the Lord. But the married man is busy with the world’s demands & is occupied with pleasing his wife. This means that he is divided” (I Cor. 7:32)
Through the precious gift of divine grace called celibacy, priests are enabled to devote themselves to God & His people more easily with an undivided heart.
It is that beautiful gift of one’s very self IN and WITH Christ TO His Church & expresses the desire to serve them whole-heartedly in and with the Lord.
And so, the priest is not without spousal love. He has his bride…he has a family… the Church. And he is called to devote himself entirely to her as Christ did.
And so, even though some may not like them, or agree with them…there are reasons for celibacy…great reasons.
Sometimes, people will quote certain passages from the Sacred Scriptures which they say support the idea of a married clergy—like one in I Cor. 9:5 and another in 1 Timothy 3:2. However, things are not always as they seem. And for those who are interested, in next week’s bulletin, I will share how the Fathers of the Church understood & interpreted those verses…people like St. Jerome, St Ambrose, St. Leo the Great, and St. Augustine. (Note – this follow up is attached at the end)
In the Gospel today, the blind man cried out, “Lord, I want to see!”
Christ Our Lord did indeed come to give sight to the blind…to help people see…but to see not only with their physical eyes, but to see with the eyes of Faith.
And the priesthood of Jesus Christ is a profound mystery of our Faith, which requires eyes of Faith to understand it.
To see the priest as an ‘Alter Christus”
To see that the priest finds the full truth of his identity—of who he is—in being a derivation, a specific participation in and continuation of Christ Himself, who gave Himself completely for us.
To see that the priest is called to be a living and transparent image of Christ the High Priest. Bride Groom of the Church.
But if priests are to truly be that…they must stay close to Christ, living in intimate union with Him, Who is the unique Source of their being and irreplaceable Model.
If they stop focusing on HIM…they will focus on something else and can easily lose their way. Just like if a husband or wife stop focusing on each other, they can lose their way.
I have shared all of this with you because you’re not going to hear about these things in the secular newspapers, or on TV. You deserve more than just half truths, and I hope that what I have shared has shed some light for you on the question of celibacy and the priesthood.
And so today, National Priesthood Sunday, let us pray for all priests, Not just those who are experiencing difficulties, but for all those who have dedicated their whole lives to serving Christ and people like you and me for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.
CELIBACY (Bulletin Insert November 5, 2006)
Last weekend, we reflected on the question of celibacy and the priesthood. As mentioned, two verses from Scripture are often cited as “proof texts” in support of married clergy, who enjoyed marital intimacy. However, things are not always as they seem.
“Have we not the right to take about with us a woman, a sister, as do the other apostles, and the brethren of the Lord and Cephas?” (I Cor. 9:5) (Note: although some may interpret this as “wife”, the Greek text literally has “a sister woman”)
In interpreting this verse, the consensus of the early Fathers of the Church see in these “sister women”, not women with whom the Apostles went on living a conjugal life, but rather Christian women who were attached to their service for the needs of the ministry, just like women accompanied Our Lord to tend to His needs. In the case where one of these women might have been the wife of an Apostle, it was understood that she then lived with her husband “as a sister”.
A bishop then, must be blameless, married but once, reserved ,prudent….”, (I Tim. 3:12 mentions the same thing regarding deacons).
The consensus of the early Church Fathers of the meaning of “married but once” or “a man of one wife”, is that this instruction of St Paul served the purpose of elimination of candidates for Ordination, with little experience of chastity, and is not an authorization to have conjugal relations after ordination. If a man felt the need to remarry after the death of his 1st wife, it seemed unlikely that he would be able to lead a life of continence after he was ordained, as was expected.
There has been much study on the history of celibacy/continence in recent years. For further reading on the history of celibacy, the following 2 books are suggested.
The Case for Clerical Celibacy: Its Historical Development & Theological Foundations, by Alfons Maria Cardinal Stickler (Ignatius Press, 1995. 106 pgs.)
Celibacy in the Early Church, by Stephan Heid (Ignatius Press, 2000. 350 pgs.).
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