Ooh, nice one with Augustine!Did Jesus have a fulfilling life? Did Mary have a fulfilling life? There’s your answer.
Also, ask St.Augustine. He did his best work as a celibate
Well, it’s comforting to think that if I just continue to wait patiently, eventually I’ll stop caring. Hopefully my desire for children will fade with my libido.
To address your question which is the topic of this thread. For whatever vocation God calls us to, whatever state in life, it is God who provides the Graces necessary to fulfill that vocation. Hence, if one is called by God to the Sacrament of Marriage one will find one’s joy and fulfillment in that vocation - and there is much more to a relationship in marriage than the sexual, although this is an important part of the vocation. Also, if called to the Sacrament of Marriage and all it involves, it is in this vocation that one will find the God alone who suffices and holiness. One is pleasing to God by following that vocation to which He is calling the person and faithfulness to all the duties involved.
Something occured to me after initially responding to the above post and then giving the above further thought.
Perhaps because we live in an intensely sexualized culture.
I completely agree with you. Like with material possessions or good looks or other things our culture values, society is always telling us what we need to be satisfied. It’s incredible how my envy and disappointment with life dissipate when on retreat at a monastery, where one’s relationship with God assumes the most importance to everyone there!
I think sex is important, obviously, since the majority of people are called to procreate. But I think you are maybe influenced by all the pro-sex propaganda. I’m celibate because I’m not married, and I while I’m not sure if I’ll be happier if I were married with kids, I’m not compelled to go out and find a spouse just so I can have sex either…
Very well said and I concur.
totally agree. Some people - it seems to me - need sex and some don't need it, at least not as much. Various factors probably contribute to this. Genes maybe. Bringing up. Modeling of parents. Early sexual experiences. Etc. Some of those priests that got involved in sex apparently could not resist impulses that can overpower. Very sad in their situations. They have brought major scandal to the church. One good reason for marriage.
Since so many of the priestly scandals involved teenage boys, this brings up a complex issue. I'm inclined to think that homosexuality is either given by God (born with) or the result of childhood factors. The exploitation of teenage boys is inexcusable, to be sharply condemned as a crime. However, I've finally concluded that probably civil unions should be permitted. Better to be in a committed relationship than to be promiscuous, whether male or female. Better for the individual and for society.
There are some people, certainly among priests and nuns, who apparently find that they can get along without sex, in large part because of their devotion to God. Frankly, sometimes religion can seem erotic. Some of the saints - females especially - wrote about Jesus as though he were their lover. Many hymns have a certain erotic tone. Take the old Protestant one, now often sung by Catholics: "And he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own...." Many more like that. I wonder if religion doesn't fill the vacuum which the absence of physical love (and sex) brings.
So, the answer - yes to some, no to many others. I believe the church should permit priests to marry if they choose to. The Bible certainly permits it. It is generally healthier for the spirit as well as the body than being forced to remain single. The natural man and woman want and need love, and physical love usually leads to sex. Nothing wrong with that within the bonds of marriage. Wasn't God's first commandment: "Be fruitful and multiply!"
Kidding but here goes. Who was the wisest man in the world, according to scripture? Solomon! He had 700 wives and 300 concubines! And all those patriarchs, favored by God, men like Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and David etc had more than one wife, or, in the case of Abraham, a wife and a mistress! And Jesus, after all, performed his first miracle at a wedding!Although what I am quoting from refers to the priesthood, it applies to any celibacy embraced for the sake of The Kingdom:
It is true that God’s first command to mankind was to “increase and multiply”; however Jesus was single and celibate and brought the Old Law to fulfillment in the single celibate state and attracting followers to do likewise and this continued after His Death and continues today still. Today it is very much also in the supernatural order, that of Grace and spiritual growth, that we also seek to “increase and multiply”. It is also very true I think that the most common of all the vocations and calls from God is marriage which is a Sacrament for which the the natural ‘makeup’ of the human being is ideally suited and by God’s design.