Celibacy is a great treasure for the church and for others

By Ben Sember

	Ben Sember

For six years, I have been preparing to be a priest for the Green Bay Diocese. God willing, I will be ordained in 2006. Celibacy has been an important part of my preparation. I have not approached it as a theory, but as a way of following Christ.

Recently, a few people have promoted married clergy as a solution to the decreasing numbers of priests. While this is well intentioned, I am concerned that they do not understand the purpose and value of celibacy. It is dangerous to toss something out without knowing its value, and celibacy is a particularly valuable treasure in the church.

Celibacy is not a restriction imposed by the hierarchy - it is a demand of the Gospel. Celibacy is not connected to ordination - it is connected to baptism. When we profess faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we entrust ourselves completely into God's hands. We give him not only our soul, but our body, including our sexuality. A Christian has already offered all his or her love to God. Most Christians begin life in the celibate state, and many Christians finish life in the celibate state. Marriage is not an interruption of this love of God, but a love which grows out of, and which should always be rooted in the love of God.

Celibacy is not an extra restriction for priests. All Christians are called to love God with their whole heart, mind, soul and strength (Mt 22:37). Celibacy is the same Christian vocation lived in a way so obviously different that it calls attention to how Christians have dedicated themselves to God. Those who are married must live the same commitment and the same witness, but in a more ordinary way.

This understanding shows why the church has discerned that celibacy is most fitting for priestly ministry. There are three main reasons.

• First, celibacy is a complete dedication to God. It helps the priest develop a deep personal relationship to God. That relationship is the one power which sustains effective priestly ministry and directs that ministry to the people who need it most.

• Second, the priest is a living symbol of Jesus. By remaining celibate, Jesus was free to be all things to all people (see 1 Cor 9:22). Celibacy frees the priest to love all people with the love of Jesus, while making him a living symbol of Jesus' love. This love is expressed as a marriage covenant between Jesus and his church - the Bride of Christ. Celibacy enables the priest to represent Christ in his marriage relationship to the church.

• Finally, priests are the preeminent ministers of the Gospel. Celibacy frees the priest to live the Gospel and to spread the Gospel with special fervor. Because celibacy is an obviously radical way of living the Gospel, a priest's own life witnesses to the power of God and the truth of the Gospel.

Celibacy has value on many levels and they are all bound together. Personal holiness, imitation of Christ, witness to the world, service to the church, availability for all people, and proclamation of the Gospel are all wrapped into the celibate way of life. Without saying anything, a priest preaches the Gospel. This witness is why I find celibacy absolutely necessary.

Our culture is drowning in self-indulgence, believing the lie that pleasure brings happiness. The single state is what is lived after one relationship and before the next, and the best life a single person can hope for is a meaningful relationship with an attractive person. We have forgotten friendship with God.

This is why I am convinced that married clergy would not solve the vocation crisis. The last thing the church needs is a less radical, less startling, more ordinary dedication to the Gospel. The more the church looks, talks and acts like the world around it, the less plausible is her claim to offer something different. The answer to the vocation crisis is the same as to every crisis the church has ever faced: We need a more radical, committed, startling, and completely absurd dedication to the Gospel message of Christ. We do not need less celibacy, we need more.

(Sember is a seminarian of the Diocese of Green Bay, third year theology at Mundelein Seminary)