By Rhys Lowther
"Why won’t the Church let you guys get married!?"
I have been asked this more times than I can count! Perhaps because celibacy is, always has been, and always will be, a most counter-cultural aspect of priesthood. We unpacked this question at the senior celibacy seminar last week in Bendigo lead by Fr Jake Mudge.
We participated in daily Mass with the parishioners at St Therese’s Church, followed by formative sessions beginning with the reasons for celibacy and going further into a mature reflection on faithfully living this call. There was also ample time for outings and recreation in Bendigo.
Celibacy is about relationships. I often remember St Augustine who said, “And what was it that I delighted in, but to love, and be loved (amare et amari)?” Celibacy does not ask us to renounce this desire, but to embrace it! A celibate is unmarried so he can dedicate all his love to God and all souls “for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matt 19:12). We discussed how celibacy is sustained by our relationship with God and by His grace most especially in the Mass, sacraments and prayer, also by our relationships with family and friends, and the invaluable brotherhood among priests and seminarians.
"Why won't the Church let you priests get married!?" Let’s give St John Paul II the last word: “The Church, as the spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her head and spouse loved her” (John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis, n. 29).
Through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, may we always bear faithful witness to Christ’s love for the Church.
