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| Called and Chosen: the Celibate Vocation
Another important dimension of celibate
chastity is spiritual fatherhood. Every man should experience the call
within his heart the call to be a father. This is no less true of a
man becoming a priest. The young man becoming a priest accepts Christ’s
invitation to care for His Bride, the Church. The priest stands in the
place of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church, so his “marriage”
is not to this or that member of the laity, but to the Church as a whole.
To his flock the priest is not husband, but father. This is the reason
why we can call a priest “father” because he is a spiritual
father to the people of God. Priestly celibacy in patristics and in the history of the Church Priestly celibacy: Sign of the charity of Christ (By Mother Theresa) Training for priestly celibacy The relevance of priestly celibacy today Celibacy: Fidelity to one’s priestly identity The Theology of the Body on Celibacy (off-site) |
One
of the remarkable things about the Catholic priesthood is the promise
of celibate chastity. There are several reasons for necessity of this
promise. Jesus lived a celibate lifestyle and priesthood really is a
radical imitation of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI explained
that this radical imitation of Christ is the highest dignity of the
priesthood. Those who are called by God to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ
also experience the call to celibate chastity. This call to live celibate
chastity is one that is understood over a long period of formation for
the candidate. One simply does not wake up one morning and decide that
he is going to be celibate. Celibacy requires a growing understanding
one’s own sexuality. All people are called to live in chastity,
which means living sexually according to their vocation. In order to
grow in the understanding of celibate chastity one needs a good spiritual
director.