to be aflame with passion ... Now concerning virgins, I have no command
of the Lord ... Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free
from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a
virgin marries, she does not sin” (1 Cor. 7:8-9 & 25 & 27-28).
Furthermore, he expressly states that celibacy is a higher state than the state
of marriage:
“So that he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from
marriage will do better” (v. 38).
In the light of the words and examples of Christ and St. Paul, how can
anyone say that the celibate life is not an excellent one and therefore deny
souls the opportunity of following more closely the footsteps of their
Master?
St. Paul also gives a practical reason why the priests of Christ should
practise celibacy:
“The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please
the Lord; but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world,
how to please his wife, and his interests are divided” (vv. 32-34).
As a final point, the one hundred and forty-four thousand who sing the new
canticle and follow the Lamb wherever He goes in the Book of Revelation
are all virgins, as St. John relates in Chapter 14.
Second objection: “But still, is not Celibacy against nature?”
With God all things are possible. The true celibate is filled with joy and
radiates his light and warmth to all others. Celibacy is not impossible, for
its inspirer and its guardian is the Holy Spirit: “Not everyone can accept
this teaching, but only those to whom it is given” (St. Matt. 19:11). It is the
grace of God, not purely human effort, which keeps a celibate person pure.
The abuses that occur are not due to celibacy itself, but to the lack of
correspondence and fidelity to God’s grace. In any case, abuse should
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