Sunday Sermon, February 11 -- The Fruitfulness of Priestly Celibacy, St Damien of Molokai (Sermons on Priestly Celibacy, Part 3 of 3)

Review of the previous two sermons on the theology of priestly celibacy and the history of clerical celibacy.  The priest is celibate primarily because Jesus was a celibate priest - being so conformed to Christ, it is fitting that the priest should imitate the Lord in embracing celibacy. Furthermore, the celibate man offers to God an undivided heart, but the married man's heart is divided between his wife, the world, his family, etc and the Lord - since the priest is wholly consecrated to divine worship, it is fitting that his heart be given to God wholly through celibacy.

Celibacy is tied to the very nature of the priesthood, even as Christ united celibacy to the priesthood in his own person. It is a discipline which could change, but it would be horrible if it did change.

The real history of "married priests" is that the common practice in the early Church was for married men to cease living as husbands with their wives at the time of their ordination. Furthermore, even today, when a married man is ordained (for example, when a married man is ordained a permanent deacon), he makes something like a "conditional promise" of celibacy, since he is not permitted to remarry after ordination if his wife dies. Holy Orders tends towards celibacy.

We consider the joy and the fruitfulness of priestly celibacy as we look at the life of the Leper Priest of Molokai, St Damien.

“Missionary priest, born at Tremeloo, Belgium, 3 January 1840; died at Molokai, Hawaii, 15 April 1889. He was sent to the mission of the Hawaiian Islands, where he arrived, 19 March, 1864. Ordained priest at Honolulu 24 May of the same year. On 10 May, 1873, Father Damien, at his own request and with the sanction of his bishop, arrived at the settlement [on Molokai] as its resident priest. There were then 600 lepers. He not only administered the consolations of religion, but also rendered them such little medical service and bodily comforts as were within his power. He dressed their ulcers, helped them erect their cottages, and went so far as to dig their graves and make their coffins. After twelve years of this heroic service he discovered in himself the first symptoms of the disease. On 28 March, 1889, Father Damien became helpless and passed away shortly after, closing his fifteenth year in the service of the lepers.” (From the Catholic Encyclopedia)

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Sunday Sermon, February 5 -- The Real History of Priestly Celibacy (Sermons on Priestly Celibacy, Part 2 of 3)

"Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever." (March 1:30)

Having discussed the theology of priestly celibacy last week -- pointing out the gift of celibacy where by the priest imitated Jesus who was a celibate priest and is consecrated entirely to the Lord for divine worship -- we turn this week to the history of clerical celibacy.

There is a common myth that says that the priests were married in the early Church and only in the Middle Ages did the Church force priests to be celibate. This is a false and incomplete picture of the early Church. In fact, from the time of the Apostles (example, St John and St Paul), there were men who embraced celibacy as they lived their priestly vocation. On the other hand, we note that St Peter was married, and likely even had children -- thus, we see that there were married priests in the early Church.

However, we also know from divine revelation, that St Peter gave up married life with his wife when he was called to be an Apostle. And this was the common practice throughout the early Church, that when married men were called to become deacons, priests, or bishops, they voluntarily abandoned married life with their wives and children. St Jerome testifies to this saying, "Though they have wives, they are no longer husbands." In order to be ordained, the common practice of the early Church was that a man would give up marital intimacy with his wife - we call this "continence", whereby a married couple chooses perpetually to abstain from conjugal union.

This is explicit in the Bible: The Lord says to Simon Peter, "You have left wife and children to follow me" (cf Luke 18:29). This indicates that St Peter gave up the intimacies of married life with his wife, when he was called to be an apostle and a priest.

Furthermore, even in those Eastern Churches where married men are permitted to be ordained as priests, and also in the Roman Catholic Church where married men are ordained as deacons, we see that Holy Orders (of its very nature) tends toward celibacy. Indeed, once a man is ordained, he is not permitted to marry - thus, if the wife of a married priest or deacon dies, that man is not permitted to remarry, but is expected to embrace celibacy. We might even say that even in those cases where a married man is ordained as a deacon or a priest, he is making a "conditional promise" of celibacy, if ever his wife should die.

This is the real history of clerical celibacy and married priests in the early Church, and it shows even more plainly that celibacy is intimately tied with the very nature of the deacon, priest, and bishop.



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Sunday Sermon, January 28 -- The Theology of Priestly Celibacy (Sermons on Priestly Celibacy, Part 1 of 3)

St Paul says, "I should like you to be free from anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided." (1 Corinthians 7:32)

Inspired by the readings of the next three weeks, we will be preaching a series of sermons on priestly celibacy, indeed on clerical celibacy. This week, we consider the theology behind priestly celibacy; next, the history of clerical celibacy (for deacons, priests, and bishops); and finally, an example of celibacy in the life of a saintly priest.

Celibacy is a great gift, and a source of much joy. In fact, celibate priests are generally happier (according to surveys) than most married men in the USA -- thus, celibacy is not a burden or a cause of sorrow, but is shown even by the secular studies to be a means of gaining great happiness and fulfillment.

There are three reasons often given for priestly celibacy: Married priests wouldn't be able to focus as much on their ministry, they would have to be paid a great deal more to support their families, and they would not be able to be sent as missionaries. These are all good reasons, but they are not the best reasons or the real reason.  Even if some men could perform the work of priestly ministry while being married, even though some parishes could afford to pay the priest more, and even though some priests will never be sent on mission - still, it is better that the Church maintain priestly celibacy in the West.

Celibacy is an imitation of Christ Jesus. Jesus was a celibate priest, and his example shows us that celibacy is tied to the very nature of the priesthood. The priest, in his very person, is consecrated to the Lord for worship - even as the Church building is set aside from the world for the sake of divine worship, the priest is set apart for worship by the gift of celibacy.

Listen online [here]!