You Don't Need to be Celibate to "Love God with an Undivided Heart"

[DavidGonzalez]

The Catechism teaches that celibacy is a sign that priests [and religious] have consecrated themselves with undivided hearts to the Lord and to the affairs of the Lord (1579).

The part about the affairs of the Lord might make sense: A married person has to invest so much time and energy into his family that he cannot afford to give undivided attention to the work of the Church. A celibate person can.

But what about this idea of loving God with an undivided heart?

Here’s the problem: When Catholics talk about undivided hearts to justify celibacy, it sounds like we’re saying that the more you’d love your spouse, the less you’d love God.

Clearly, that’s wrong. It’s worse than wrong.

First of all, the love you have for God is not in competition with the love you have for your spouse. You might think that loving your spouse somehow takes away from the attention to pay to God. But the best way to love God is to love the people around you. Therefore, the more you love your spouse, the more you love God. And the more you love God, the more you love your spouse.

People who are thinking about taking vows of celibacy sometimes say, “I’m doing this because I want to love God more than anything else.” Allow me to point out that this is nonsense. They could get married and love God more than anything else all the same.

What they should say is, “I’m doing this because I want to love the work of the Church more than anything else.”

Now maybe you see where this is going. But I don’t want this thread to turn into a long discussion about whether priestly celibacy should be mandatory. Let’s just stick to the mini-topic at hand:

You don’t need to be celibate to love God with an undivided heart despite what the Catechism implies.

 

[Gorgias]

The Catechism teaches that celibacy is a sign that priests [and religious] have consecrated themselves with undivided hearts to the Lord and to the affairs of the Lord (1579).

But what about this idea of loving God with an undivided heart?

“loving God with an undivided heart”…?

Where do you read that? I don’t see that in CCC 1579 at all. I see consecration of self with an undivided heart; but I see neither an assertion that this implies anything about how well clerics love God nor an implication that laity love God less.

You don’t need to be celibate to love God with an undivided heart despite what the Catechism implies.

To be quite clear: I think you’re asserting that there’s something in this article that is not at all present there…

 

[turtle18]

This concept comes straight from the Bible. In Paul’s First Letter to the Corinithians, v32-40, St. Paul explains that a married person is divined between his/her loyalty to the spouse and to God. An unmarried person can devote all his/her attention to God.

usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/7

Hope that helps.

 

[DavidGonzalez]

“loving God with an undivided heart”…?

Where do you read that? I don’t see that in CCC 1579 at all. I see consecration of self with an undivided heart; but I see neither an assertion that this implies anything about how well clerics love God nor an implication that laity love God less.

To be quite clear: I think you’re asserting that there’s something in this article that is not at all present there…

Please try to be honest about this. I know you must have a strong desire to defend the Church, but when you split hairs to defend something that’s wrong it just makes the Church seem even worse.

Look, what do you think the Catechism means by the word “heart” in the phrase “undivided heart” if it’s not about love?

 

[DavidGonzalez]

This concept comes straight from the Bible. In Paul’s First Letter to the Corinithians, v32-40, St. Paul explains that a married person is divined between his/her loyalty to the spouse and to God. An unmarried person can devote all his/her attention to God.

usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/7

Hope that helps.

Thanks but I would file St Paul’s idea under the category that celibacy can help a person devote their undivided attention to the work of the Church. I don’t think he meant that celibacy can help someone love God with an undivided heart. Otherwise he’d be saying that the love you have for your spouse takes away from the love you owe to God.

And if St Paul did mean that then he’d be wrong even if it did make it into the Bible. I’m pretty sure he also said that women are not allowed to speak in Church and that slaves should respect their masters etc. Let’s have enough respect for scripture that we don’t pretend that what’s wrong is right on its behalf…

 

[Ad_Orientem]

There is nothing at all wrong with the expression “undivided heart,” which appears throughout the Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata of Pope St. John Paul II (which cites 1 Cor. 7:34).

Like all terminology it must be properly understood. That is why we have the Church’s teachings and not just catchphrases. True, everyone should love God above all things; that is part of the virtue of charity, without which we cannot be saved; but some ways of loving God are more perfect than others (V.C. no. 32).

Pope Pius XII writes in Sacra Virginitas:

1. This then is the primary purpose, this the central idea of Christian virginity: to aim only at the divine, to turn thereto the whole mind and soul; to want to please God in everything, to think of Him continually, to consecrate body and soul completely to Him.

The expression “undivided heart” captures the idea expressed above, which is the mind of the Church. True, married persons should aim for perfection in their state of life, want to please God in everything, etc.; but they are not able to do it as perfectly as those in consecrated life.

 

[Vico]

Thanks but I would file St Paul’s idea under the category that celibacy can help a person devote their undivided attention to the work of the Church. I don’t think he meant that celibacy can help someone love God with an undivided heart. Otherwise he’d be saying that the love you have for your spouse takes away from the love you owe to God.

And if St Paul did mean that then he’d be wrong even if it did make it into the Bible. I’m pretty sure he also said that women are not allowed to speak in Church and that slaves should respect their masters etc. Let’s have enough respect for scripture that we don’t pretend that what’s wrong is right on its behalf…

He did say single was better than marriage, which is a concession to avoid fornication: 6 But I speak this by indulgence, not by commandment. 7 For I would that all men were even as myself: but every one hath his proper gift from God; one after this manner, and another after that.

1 Corinthians 6-7

And that celibacy was most conducive to the things of the Lord: **32 **But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. **33 **But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. 34 And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. **35 **And this I speak for your profit: not to cast a snare upon you; but for that which is decent, and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord, without impediment.

1 Corinthians 32-35

 

[Gorgias]

Please try to be honest about this.

Umm… I am.

I know you must have a strong desire to defend the Church, but when you split hairs to defend something that’s wrong it just makes the Church seem even worse.

Splitting hairs? Me? I’m just pointing out that the passage doesn’t say what you’re trying to convince us that it says. In other words, if it’s a question of honesty and picking apart texts…

Look, what do you think the Catechism means by the word “heart” in the phrase “undivided heart” if it’s not about love?

Well, let’s look at another use of the word ‘heart’, at CCC 1586, in the text of the consecration of a bishop: “May he be pleasing to you by his gentleness and purity of heart.” Does this look like a reference about ‘love’? No, of course not; it’s a reference to the purity of the bishop.

With all due respect, it sure seems to me that you want this passage to read that way, such that it might allow you to make the points you want to bring up. You’re free to make your argument – but that doesn’t mean that you might spin the catechism as if it’s saying something it’s not.

 

[JamalChristophr]

God calls us all to a specific station in life. We need to love God to the best of our ability no matter what that station might be.

It’s highly meritorious to love your spouse also to the best of your ability, out of love for God. Husbands and wives just needs to be careful that they are loving their spouse in a way that is authentic love. There are so many counterfeits out there.

 

[Lucy107]

God calls us all to a specific station in life. We need to love God to the best of our ability no matter what that station might be.

Yes. I don’t think it is within one’s power to decide whether one will be married or not, so I think the whole OP proposition is moot.

 

[Cathoholic]

If God calls you to marriage, then you need to get married to love the Lord in the best way possible DavidGonzalez. (This is morality in the subjective order)

But the Lord ALSO calls some individuals to a celibate state too (This is also morality in the subjective order concerning that “individual”).

But consecrated celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom is objectively speaking, a higher calling. (This is morality in the objective order)

What Is So Special About Consecrated Virginity?

The point that makes Consecrated Virginity so special is that it is such a high calling.

The married life is a high calling too, but with Virginity you are already entering into a heavenly existence now in this sense.

It is a GIFT. It is not something somebody works up to on their own. They choose to follow this grace to be sure, but a grace it is.

Consecrated Virginity is more “toward Heaven” already on this earth.

MATTHEW 22:30a (DRV) For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married . . .

Here is the CCC you cited . . .

CCC 1579 All the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons, are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."70 Called to consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to "the affairs of the Lord,"71 they give themselves entirely to God and to men. Celibacy is a sign of this new life to the service of which the Church’s minister is consecrated; accepted with a joyous heart celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God.72

MATTHEW 19:12 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."

1st CORINTHIANS 7:25, 32-35 (NIV) 25 Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. . . . . 32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs–how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world–how he can please his wife-- 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. **But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world–how she can please her husband. **35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

CCC 1620 Both the sacrament of Matrimony and virginity for the Kingdom of God come from the Lord himself. It is he who gives them meaning and grants them the grace which is indispensable for living them out in conformity with his will.117 Esteem of virginity for the sake of the kingdom118 and the Christian understanding of marriage are inseparable, and they reinforce each other:

Whoever denigrates marriage also diminishes the glory of virginity. Whoever praises it makes virginity more admirable and resplendent. What appears good only in comparison with evil would not be truly good. The most excellent good is something even better than what is admitted to be good.119​

In the Mass, we see special veneration given to three different states in life. Virgins, Confessors, and Martyrs. Revelation 14 probably refers to Priests who are virgins (men who have “made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven”—c.f. Matthew 19:12)

REVELATION 14:4 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb

“Chaste” in Revelation 14:4 = “parthenos" = “virgins”

REVELATION 14:4a It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste;

Literally “they are virgins”.

REVELATION 14:4a (NIV) It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins;

REVELATION 14:4 (New Jerusalem Bible) These are the sons who have kept their virginity and not been defiled with women; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they, out of all people, have been redeemed to be the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb.

CCC 1618 Christ is the center of all Christian life. The bond with him takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social.113 From the very beginning of the Church there have been men and women who have renounced the great good of marriage to follow the Lamb wherever he goes, to be intent on the things of the Lord, to seek to please him, and to go out to meet the Bridegroom who is coming.114 Christ himself has invited certain persons to follow him in this way of life, of which he remains the model:

"For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it."115​

Hope this helps.

God bless.

Cathoholic

Bold CCC and Scripture mine

 

[DavidGonzalez]

Yes. I don’t think it is within one’s power to decide whether one will be married or not, so I think the whole OP proposition is moot.

Wait a second. You need to complete your thought because your meaning isn’t clear.

I also believe that some people are called to marriage and others to celibacy. That doesn’t make my proposition a moot point. My proposition is that you don’t need to be celibate to love God with an undivided heart. Both a married person and a celibate person can do it.

The problem is that some people are called to marriage but force themselves to take vows of celibacy because they think it is the only way to love God with an undivided heart. They end up falling in love time and time again, but convince themselves that these romantic feelings are temptations from an evil spirit that wants to set them off track. In the end they become depressed and leave the seminary or the religious life.

All I’m saying is that the best way to love God is to love the people around you. So loving your spouse does not take away from the love you owe to God. It fulfills the love you owe to God.

A couple of people here have insisted that loving God in the celibate state is superior to loving God as a married person. One person explained that loving God in the celibate state mimics the way we will love him in heaven because heavenly beings are celibate.

The thought is interesting but it also needs to be completed. Why is it that celibacy produces a higher quality of love? Appealing to the authority of the way things are in heaven is not a real explanation.

Anyway, marriage also mimics the way we will love God in heaven. A wife is united to her husband the way the saints are united to God in heaven. And by loving your spouse, you are also loving Jesus in your spouse. The more you love your spouse, the more you love God in your spouse. Loving God means loving the people around you. That’s all there is to it.

 

[Tigg]

Why is it that celibacy produces a higher quality of love? Appealing to the authority of the way things are in heaven is not a real explanation.

Anyway, marriage also mimics the way we will love God in heaven. A wife is united to her husband the way the saints are united to God in heaven. And by loving your spouse, you are also loving Jesus in your spouse. The more you love your spouse, the more you love God in your spouse. Loving God means loving the people around you. That’s all there is to it.

No, I don’t believe that’s all there is to it. The link below is a good explanation. We need to be careful to not equate pure love only with the sexual. To do so, completely ignores the ***sacrificial ***element of celibacy which is foreign to the secular view of love.

By freely choosing priestly celibacy the priest renounces earthly fatherhood and gains a share in the Fatherhood of God…Priestly celibacy is not just not getting married, not to have a family.** It is undivided love of Christ in chastity**. Nothing and nobody will separate me from the love of Christ.** It is not simply a list of don’ts, it is love.** Freedom to love and to be all things to all people. And for that we need the freedom and poverty and simplicity of life. Jesus could have everything but he chose to have nothing. We too must choose not to have or to use certain luxuries. For the less we have for ourselves, the more of Jesus we can give, and the more we have for ourselves, the less of Jesus we can give. As priests, you must all be able to experience the joy of that freedom, having nothing, having no one, you can then love Christ with undivided love in chastity. That is why, a priest who is completely free to love Christ, the work that he does in obedience is his love for Christ in action. The precious blood is in his hand, the living bread he can break and give to all who are hungry for God.

vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_01011993_sign_en.html

For those in the world who have been caught up in sexual saturation and hedonism this must be a very strange concept - the idea of pursuing holiness through aesceticism; the means of which require mortifying one’s body. Here’s a thought from one site which encourages priestly vocations and explains celibacy: * "The professional athlete disciplines his body with punishing ‘NOs’ to achieve the ‘YES’ of 1st place; devoting his entire life to this single objective. Yet when it comes to religious people–who discipline their bodies for an infinitely greater good–such aesceticism is seen as disturbed and neurotic. "*

Mortification and denial of the flesh is not morbid when one considers the reason to practice it is to remove self-love in order to achieve a greater love of God and those around them. It’s rather a basic principle when pursuing the spiritual life.

 

[Bookcat]

Read Saint Paul. A few times even. He explains in his letter to the Corinthians in Sacred Scripture . As does the Church in her various documents.

And note too that an actual person a particular married person may in effect-* in actual practice*- love God with greater love and be thus more perfect in practice than a particular person in consecrated life. See the various married Saints.​

And yes it is true that:

*All are to love God with “all” *their hearts and minds and strength…

 

[Bookcat]

All I’m saying is that the best way to love God is to love the people around you. So loving your spouse does not take away from the love you owe to God. It fulfills the love you owe to God.

That is “part” of loving God yes.

For a married person yes they are to love their Spouse and in a way that does not “take away” the love for God.

And yes loving God for a married person involves loving their spouse.

And “hating” their spouse (Luke 14:26)

In the meaning that Jesus means when he says we must “hate” our mother and father and wife etc… A semitic turn of language. An expression of language. To make a very strong point.

That is we must love God above all!

We must choose to follow Jesus - even when this is at odds with family or friends…etc.

 

[DavidGonzalez]

No, I don’t believe that’s all there is to it. The link below is a good explanation. We need to be careful to not equate pure love only with the sexual. To do so, completely ignores the ***sacrificial ***element of celibacy which is foreign to the secular view of love.

For those in the world who have been caught up in sexual saturation and hedonism this must be a very strange concept - the idea of pursuing holiness through aesceticism; the means of which require mortifying one’s body. Here’s a thought from one site which encourages priestly vocations and explains celibacy: * "The professional athlete disciplines his body with punishing ‘NOs’ to achieve the ‘YES’ of 1st place; devoting his entire life to this single objective. Yet when it comes to religious people–who discipline their bodies for an infinitely greater good–such aesceticism is seen as disturbed and neurotic. "*

Mortification and denial of the flesh is not morbid when one considers the reason to practice it is to remove self-love in order to achieve a greater love of God and those around them. It’s rather a basic principle when pursuing the spiritual life.

I’m not sure that I follow you and vice versa. What makes you think that I was equating pure love only with the sexual? Or were you subconsciously trying to re-characterize my argument to make it easier to dismiss?

Anyway your point about mortification is valid, but I’m sure you’d agree that one can practice self-less love in the context of marriage. It sounds like you’re saying that there’s something inherently selfish about married love. If so, I’m not sure where that’s coming from. Don’t you see that love is love is love? God is love. The more you love someone, truly love someone, not in a selfish way, but in a self-less way, the way a good husband might love his spouse, then at the same time you are also loving God?

 

[JamalChristophr]

My proposition is that you don’t need to be celibate to love God with an undivided heart. Both a married person and a celibate person can do it.

Sorry, but I think you are just flat out incorrect. You are contradicting St. Paul and Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet who wrote:

***"Jesus Christ inspired his apostles to declare that holy virginity is the only condition that can consecrate entirely to God a heart that cannot suffer division. (1 Cor. 7:32-35).

---

taken from “Meditations for Advent” by Bishop Boussuet

…And I dare say, a not insubstantial amount of Church Fathers and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

 

[JamalChristophr]

If I were to meet you in the middle at all, I would say that it depends on some degree how you define “an undivided heart”.

A divided heart can be seen in two ways. A de facto way that is not blame worthy the person who is married is one way to define it, but there is another sense it can be used in Christianity which connotes having a divided heart in an intentional way that is blame worthy through love for pleasure, riches, honor. …the things of this world.

 

[DavidGonzalez]

Sorry, but I think you are just flat out incorrect. You are contradicting St. Paul and Bishop Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet who wrote:

***"Jesus Christ inspired his apostles to declare that holy virginity is the only condition that can consecrate entirely to God a heart that cannot suffer division. (1 Cor. 7:32-35).

---

taken from “Meditations for Advent” by Bishop Boussuet

…And I dare say, a not insubstantial amount of Church Fathers and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Thanks but all you did was rely on the authority of scripture and various churchmen. What I’m looking for is an explanation of why they are correct in the first place – if they even are correct!

Look you should be more cautious about relying solely on the authority of scripture and the Church. It can sometimes make scripture and the Church look bad. If the average person were to read your post, you’d only be convincing them that the authority of scripture and the Church is not to be trusted.

 

[Bookcat]

To be read together:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=12755505&postcount=14

forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=12755551&postcount=15