Reflections by Father Daniel Mahan
Priestly celibacy
(The following text is and excerpt from the book More than Silver or Gold: Homilies of a Stewardship Priest, by Father Daniel J. Mahan, a priest of our archdiocese; it is reprinted here with the permission of the author.)
Priestly celibacy is a gift to the one who is called to Holy Orders and is a gift to the Church. A mark of good stewardship is respect, support and encouragement of the gift of celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is called “Good Shepherd Sunday.” The Scriptures speak of Jesus in the familiar and comforting image of the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep and calls them each by name. He leads them through the valley of the shadow of death to verdant pastures and restful waters. The Good Shepherd comes so that the sheep might have life and have it in abundance. He is single-hearted in His service to the flock.
Our Holy Father designates Good Shepherd Sunday as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. We pray especially for those who are shepherds in our Church today, our bishops and priests. We pray for men who are in the seminary (including two of our own parishioners) and for young men who are discerning the call.
On this Good Shepherd Sunday I wish to speak about a particular aspect of priestly life that is a great blessing for our Church and for our world, and yet which is being called into question more and more. I speak of the gift of priestly celibacy.
I use the term gift deliberately. The call to celibacy is a gift of God given to the priestso that he might live a life of total dedication to priestly service. In turn, celibacy is a gift to the Church and the world, for through it the priest is able to imitate Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in service that is single-hearted.
The gift of celibacy is much misunderstood, even by otherwise loyal Catholics. A number of very solid articles have been published recently by both Catholic and non-Catholic writers, dispelling the notion that celibacy is the cause of the problems in the headlines these days. However, we still hear an ongoing mantra from many Catholics: “It is only a matter of time before priestly celibacy will be optional if not non-existent.”
“After all, celibacy is a medieval relic. It has only been Church law for the last 900 years, there are married priests in the Eastern rites, and furthermore, the only reason a priest doesn’t marry is that he wouldn’t have time for both his family and his parish. A better system of time management could solve that problem,” so they say.
Oh really? Is that all priestly celibacy is? An archaic medievalism that can be disposed of without serious consequence to our Church? I sure hope not. I hope that the solemn promise I made when I was ordained fourteen years ago and the life that I continue to lead is more than an affectation of a bygone era.
Let’s take a good look at priestly celibacy:
Priestly celibacy goes back not 900 years, but to our Lord Himself, who never married. And although some of the apostles may have been married (remember that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is mentioned in the Gospels), it is indisputable that Jesus called them to a single-hearted service.
Jesus says, “There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.”
St. Paul praises “the men of faith who live a celibate life and who … consecrate themselves with undivided heart to the Lord and to ‘the affairs of the Lord.’ ”
And while it is true that the Church has, and in fact does ordain as priests married men, she has never permitted a priest to marry and continue in the priestly service. There has always been and always will be a consciousness in the Church of the importance of priestly celibacy.
Why is this the case?
First, through celibacy priests are configured to Jesus Christ in a profound way, allowing them to be single-hearted in service of the Lord and His Church. It is deeper than a “time management” issue, i.e. a priest not having time or energy for both family and parish. Through living the celibate life, a priest is able to be consecrated to the Lord, and that consecration, that single-heartedness, allows the priest to be at the service of not just one family, but every family.
Second, through their commitment to celibacy, priests offer a living witness to the power of faith. Priests point to that which is unseen but lasting, that which is invisible but eternal. A priest who embraces celibacy and lives it faithfully says to the Church and the world: “Even though celibacy may seem to be absurd in the eyes of the world, I put my trust in the Lord who will be my joy and my peace for all eternity.”
If there are fewer men entering seminaries these days, I don’t think that it is because marriage and family have somehow become more appealing than ever before. I think numbers are down because of a crisis of faith in the family. The greatest seedbed for vocations to the priesthood has always been the family.
I am grateful that a few years ago, when a grade school boy expressed the desire to be a priest, a certain family affirmed that decision and supported him through twelve years of discernment. They did not push, but they quietly told that young man that if the call were truly from God, then the Lord would provide happiness in this life and happiness beyond measure in the life to come. That family was my family, and I will be ever grateful.
Finally, the Church will always be conscious of the importance of priestly celibacy because of our lived experience of the power of a priest’s life to be generative and paternal in its own way. We call our priests “Father” for a reason. Celibacy enables priests to be spiritual fathers of so many people in ways that are known only to the Lord. I have experienced and continue to experience great contentment and peace knowing that through Holy Orders I am spiritually a life-giver. God has given me this great gift, a gift that you affirm every time that you address me as “Father.” For that I am tremendously grateful.
I do not regret answering the call to become a priest. There are difficult moments, yes, but probably not more than in other walks of life. Celibacy sometimes brings with it the cross of loneliness, but more often it brings me the satisfaction of knowing that every day I am doing something of great importance for building up the Kingdom of God.
I place my trust in a God who is absolutely reliable, and I trust that God will give me and my brother priests the grace we need to live out the priestly vocation in a chaste and celibate way. I rely upon your prayers, believe me! I know that through God’s grace my vocation as a celibate priest will never stop being the life-giving and exceptionally fulfilling life that it is for me today.
More than Silver or Gold: Homilies of a Stewardship Priest is published by Saint Catherine of Siena Press, an Indianapolis-based Catholic publishing company committed to “Excellence in catechesis … in faithfulness to Rome.” For information about ordering this book and about their other publications log onto www.saintcatherineofsienapress.com
Footnotes:
This homily was preached at the height of the revelation of clergy scandals in 2002.
1Corinthians 7:32, quoted in CCC 1579. This does not mean that priests have always been chosen from the ranks of celibate men, but to assert that priestly celibacy is only 900 years old is historically inaccurate.