Virginity or Celibacy for
the Sake of the Kingdom
General Audience, March 10, 1982
1. Today we begin to reflect on virginity or celibacy for the
kingdom of heaven. The question of the call to an exclusive donation
of self to God in virginity and in celibacy thrusts its roots deep
in the Gospel soil of the theology of the body. To indicate the
dimensions proper to it, one must bear in mind Christ's words about
the beginning, and also what he said about the resurrection of the
body. The observation, "When they rise from the dead they neither
marry nor are given in marriage" (Mk 12:25), indicates that there is
a condition of life without marriage. In that condition, man, male
and female, finds at the same time the fullness of personal donation
and of the intersubjective communion of persons, thanks to the
glorification of his entire psychosomatic being in the eternal union
with God. When the call to continence for the kingdom of heaven
finds an echo in the human soul, in the conditions of this temporal
life, that is, in the conditions in which persons usually "marry and
are given in marriage" (Lk 20:34), it is not difficult to perceive
there a particular sensitiveness of the human spirit. Already in the
conditions of the present temporal life this seems to anticipate
what man will share in, in the future resurrection.
Christ on divorce
2. However, Christ did not speak of this problem, of this particular
vocation, in the immediate context of his conversation with the
Sadducees (cf. Mt 22:23-30; Mk 12:18-25; Lk 20:27-36), when there
was reference to the resurrection of the body. Instead he had
already spoken of it in the context of his conversation with the
Pharisees on marriage and on the grounds of indissolubility, as if
it were a continuation of that conversation (cf. Mt 19:3-9). His
concluding words concern the so-called certificate of divorce
permitted by Moses in some cases. Christ said, "For your hardness of
heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the
beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his
wife, except in the case of concubinage, and marries another,
commits adultery" (Mt 19:8-9). Then the disciples who—as can be
deduced from the context—were listening attentively to the
conversation and especially to the final words spoken by Jesus, said
to him: "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not
expedient to marry" (Mt 19:10). Christ gave the following reply:
"Not all men can receive the precept, but only those to whom it is
given. 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" (Mt
19:11-12).
Christ's words on voluntary continence
3. In regard to this conversation recorded by Matthew one could ask
the question: what did the disciples think when, after hearing
Jesus' reply to the Pharisees, they remarked: "If such is the case
of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry"? Christ
considered it an opportune occasion to speak to them about voluntary
continence for the kingdom of heaven. In saying this, he did not
directly take a position in regard to what the disciples said, nor
did he remain in the line of their reasoning.(1) Hence he did not
reply: "It is expedient to marry" or "It is not expedient to marry."
The question of continence for the kingdom of heaven is not set in
opposition to marriage, nor is it based on a negative judgment in
regard to its importance. After all, speaking previously about the
indissolubility of marriage, Christ had referred to the beginning,
that is, to the mystery of creation, thereby indicating the first
and fundamental source of its value. Consequently, to reply to the
disciples' question, or rather, to clarify the problem placed by
them, Christ recurred to another principle. Those who in life choose
continence for the kingdom of heaven do so, not because it is
inexpedient to marry or because of a supposed negative value of
marriage, but in view of the particular value connected with this
choice and which must be discovered and welcomed personally as one's
own vocation. For that reason Christ said: "He who is able to
receive this, let him receive it" (Mt 19:12). But immediately
beforehand he said: "Not all men can receive this precept, but only
those to whom it is given" (Mt 19:11).
Grace needed to accept continence
4. As can be seen, in his reply to the disciples' problem, Christ
stated clearly a rule for the understanding of his words. In the
Church's doctrine the conviction exists that these words do not
express a command by which all are bound, but a counsel which
concerns only some persons(2)—those precisely who are able "to
receive it." Those able "to receive it" are those "to whom it has
been given." The words quoted clearly indicate the importance of the
personal choice and also the importance of the particular grace,
that is, of the gift which man receives to make such a choice. It
may be said that the choice of continence for the kingdom of heaven
is a charismatic orientation toward that eschatological state in
which men "neither marry nor are given in marriage." However, there
is an essential difference between man's state in the resurrection
of the body and the voluntary choice of continence for the kingdom
of heaven in the earthly life and in the historical state of man
fallen and redeemed. The eschatological absence of marriage will be
a state, that is, the proper and fundamental mode of existence of
human beings, men and women, in their glorified bodies. Continence
for the kingdom of heaven, as the fruit of a charismatic choice, is
an exception in respect to the other stage, namely, that state in
which man "from the beginning" became and remains a participant
during the course of his whole earthly existence.
Continence is exceptional
5. It is very significant that Christ did not directly link his
words on continence for the kingdom of heaven with his foretelling
of the "other world" in which "they will neither marry nor be given
in marriage" (Mk 12:25). However, as we already said, his words are
found in the prolongation of the conversation with the Pharisees in
which Jesus referred to the beginning. He was indicating the
institution of marriage on the part of the Creator, and recalling
its indissoluble character which, in God's plan, corresponds to the
conjugal unity of man and woman.
The counsel and therefore the charismatic choice of continence for
the kingdom of heaven are linked, in Christ's words, with the
highest recognition of the historical order of human existence
relative to the soul and body. On the basis of the immediate context
of the words on continence for the kingdom of heaven in man's
earthly life, one must see in the vocation to such continence a kind
of exception to what is rather a general rule of this life. Christ
indicates this especially. That such an exception contains within
itself the anticipation of the eschatological life without marriage
and proper to the "other world" (that is, of the final stage of the
"kingdom of heaven"), is not directly spoken of here by Christ. It
is a question indeed, not of continence in the kingdom of heaven,
but of continence for the kingdom of heaven. The idea of virginity
or of celibacy as an anticipation and eschatological sign(3) derives
from the association of the words spoken here with those which Jesus
uttered on another occasion, in the conversation with the Sadducees,
when he proclaimed the future resurrection of the body.
We shall resume this theme in the course of the following Wednesday
reflections.
NOTES
1. On the more detailed problems of the exegesis of this passage,
see for example: L. Sabourin, II Vangelo di Matteo, Teologia e
Esegesi, Vol. II (Roma: Ed. Paoline, 1977), pp. 834-836; "The
Positive Values of Consecrated Celibacy," The Way, Supplement 10,
summer 1970, p. 51; J. Blinzler, "Eisin eunuchoi, Zur Auslegung von
Mt 19:12," Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 48
(1957) 268ff.
2. "Likewise, the holiness of the Church is fostered in a special
way by the observance of the counsels proposed in the Gospel by Our
Lord to his disciples. An eminent position among these is held by
virginity or the celibate state. This is a precious gift of divine
grace given by the Father to certain souls (cf. Mt 19:11; 1 Cor
7:7), whereby they may devote themselves to God alone the more
easily, due to an undivided heart" (Lumen Gentium 42).
3. Cf. Lumen Gentium 44; Perfectae Caritatis 12.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 15 March
1982, page 3.
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