Homily for
Ordinary Time 32
November 10, 2019
Celibacy for the
Kingdom
The
great British actor Sir Alex Guinness (best known for being Obi Wan Kenobi in
the Star Wars Trilogy) converted from Protestantism to Catholicism based on a unique
encounter he had while filming a movie in France. He was playing a priest in
the movie, and during some down-time he took a stroll through the quiet town,
still dressed as a priest. All of a sudden, a young boy came up and took his
hand, and started chatting happily in French. The actor didn’t know what he was
saying, not knowing any French, but he was impressed by the trust and affection
that this boy had for Catholic priests, even those he didn’t know. When the boy
finally said, “Au revior, mon pere!” and ran off, Alex began to rethink his
long-held prejudice against the Catholic Church.
What
allows priests to be a father to all is the incredible gift of celibacy.
Celibacy means giving up marriage and family for the sake of Christ and His
Kingdom. It is not about being a bachelor or just not finding “Mr Right” – no,
celibacy is about giving your life, your body and soul, for the cause of Christ.
It is an incredible gift, and one that Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel.
Jesus
says that in Heaven there will be no marriage. This is because the purposes of
marriage are exclusively for this earth: the sanctification of the spouses and
the procreation and education of children. But in Heaven we won’t need our
spouses to make us holy, and we won’t need to have children. In Heaven, Jesus
will be our everything. And those who live celibacy now are living on this
earth as we will all live in Heaven.
If you’ve
been paying attention to the news, you may have seen that there was a recent
gathering of bishops in Rome to discuss how to bring the Gospel to the Amazon,
which often suffers from a lack of priests. Many in the Church said that the
solution is to start allowing priests to get married, that celibacy was perhaps
outdated. Is there any value to living celibate lives for Christ today? Yes –
here are four reasons why celibacy is a great gift.
First, giving
up marriage and children for the sake of the Kingdom means that a person
belongs entirely to Jesus Christ. That, in itself, is a gift! I have the
awesome blessing of being able to spend an hour in Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament daily, which I would not be able to do if I was married and had a
family. It is an incredible joy to know that all of me belongs to Him, because
He is worth it!
Second,
living celibacy is a powerful witness to the world that Jesus Christ and heaven
are real, because celibacy would make no sense whatsoever if Jesus was a myth.
I once had a young man in a youth group go from zero to sixty in his spiritual
life. When I first met him, he didn’t care about God, and after two years of
coming to youth group he was walking himself and his little brother to Mass on
Sundays. I asked him what inspired him to suddenly believe in Jesus, and he
said, “I believe in Jesus because you’re not married.” I was flabbergasted and
asked him to explain. He said, “No one would give up a wife and kids if this
was all a myth.” When you’re willing to sacrifice a natural desire for a family
in order to live the life of Heaven here on earth, where we belong completely
to Jesus, then it’s a powerful witness to the world.
Third,
celibacy allows a man or woman to be a spiritual father or mother to many, many
more children. Consider – everything that physical parents do for their children,
so a priest does for the soul. A father and mother bring a child to life – a priest
brings a soul to life in baptism. Parents work to put food on the table – a priest
feeds his children with the Eucharist. Parents clean up after their children
and correct them when they are wrong – priests clean your soul in Confession.
Parents teach their children how to live – priests and nuns teach others how to
have spiritual life in God. I have more children than I could ever have if I
were married – because all the souls who are in my care are my children!
Finally,
celibacy shows the world that there are deeper types of love than physical
affection. The world says that love equals sex, and that human beings are
unfulfilled if they aren’t engaging in sexual intimacy. Celibacy, when lived
joyfully, demolishes both claims. I am definitely not lonely (in fact, I frequently wish I could be more alone!) and have received tremendous
outpouring of love through friendships – above all through my friendship with
Christ. Celibacy is a powerful witness to the world that there are rich and
beautiful types of love and joy that do not require sex.
But
celibacy is absolutely counter-cultural. Some may claim that celibacy is
unnatural. Others claim that it is too difficult. The truth is, it is not
unnatural – it is supernatural. Every
normal, healthy person has a natural desire for marriage and family. But some
people have a supernatural desire to
give up that natural desire for the sake of Christ. It is a grace given by God,
and with every grace and calling He gives us the strength to carry it out.
Finally,
celibacy does NOT necessarily mean priesthood or being a nun. There are many
people in the world who are called to live celibately for Christ and his
Kingdom. I know people who have forsaken marriage because they feel called to give
themselves completely to the poor, or to the care of their aging parents, or to
teaching our Catholic faith to the young.
So,
celibacy is a great gift for our Church and our world. As Jesus said, in Heaven
we will all belong body and soul to Christ. Those called to celibacy are living
that out, right here. Some of our young people here this day are called to
celibacy. If God is calling you to give up your entire life for Him, I pray
that you have the courage to say “yes” – because our lives only make sense when
we give them away. And a total self-gift of body and soul to Christ is the
greatest thing we can do with our small lives here on earth.
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