Celibacy for the Kingdom
Affirms Marriage
General Audience, May 5, 1982
1. In answering the Pharisees'
questions about marriage and its indissolubility, Christ referred to
the beginning, that is, to its original institution on the part of
the Creator. Since those with whom he was speaking recalled the law
of Moses, which provided for the possibility of the so-called
"decree of divorce," he answered, "Because of the hardness of your
hearts Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it was not so
from the beginning" (Mt 19:8).
After the conversation with the Pharisees, Christ's disciples
addressed the following words to him: "'If this is the case of a man
with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.' He answered them, 'Not
all men can receive this 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
19:10-12).
Understanding values
2. Christ's words undoubtedly allude to a conscious and voluntary
renunciation of marriage. This renunciation is possible only when
one admits an authentic knowledge of that value that is constituted
by the nuptial disposition of masculinity and femininity to
marriage. In order for man to be fully aware of what he is choosing
(continence for the sake of the kingdom), he must also be fully
aware of what he is renouncing. (It is a question here of the
knowledge of the value in an ideal sense; nevertheless this
knowledge is after all realistic.) In this way, Christ certainly
demands a mature choice. The form in which the call to continence
for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is expressed proves this
without a doubt.
Renunciation is not enough
3. But a renunciation made with full awareness of the
above-mentioned value is not enough. In the light of Christ's words,
and also in the light of the whole authentic Christian Tradition, it
is possible to deduce that this renunciation is at the same time a
particular form of affirming that value from which the unmarried
person consistently abstains, following the evangelical counsel.
This can seem paradoxical. Nevertheless, it is known that many
statements in the Gospel are paradoxical, and those are often the
most eloquent and profound. Accepting such a meaning of the call to
continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, we draw a correct
conclusion, holding that the realization of this call serves
also—and in a particular way—to confirm the nuptial meaning of the
human body in its masculinity and femininity. The renunciation of
marriage for the kingdom of God at the same time highlights that
meaning in all its interior truth and personal beauty. We can say
that this renunciation on the part of individual persons, men and
women, in a certain sense is indispensable. This is so that the
nuptial meaning of the body can be more easily recognized in all the
ethos of human life and above all in the ethos of conjugal and
family life.
Aspects to consider
4. So, therefore, although continence for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven (virginity, celibacy) orients the life of persons who freely
choose it toward the exclusion of the common way of conjugal and
family life, nevertheless it is not without significance for this
life, for its style, its value and its evangelical authenticity. Let
us not forget that the only key to understanding the sacramentality
of marriage is the spousal love of Christ for the Church (cf. Eph
5:22-23): Christ, the Son of the Virgin, who was himself a virgin,
that is, a "eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," in the
most perfect meaning of the term. It will be convenient for us to
take up this point again at a later time.
5. At the end of these reflections there still remains a concrete
problem: In what way is this call formed in man, to whom the call to
continence for the sake of the kingdom has been given, on the basis
of the knowledge of the nuptial meaning of the body in its
masculinity and femininity, and further, as the fruit of such
knowledge? In what way is it formed, or rather transformed? This
question is equally important, both from the viewpoint of the
theology of the body, and from the viewpoint of the development of
the human personality, which has a personalistic and charismatic
character at the same time. If we should want to answer this
question exhaustively—in the measure of all the aspects and all the
concrete problems that it includes—it would be necessary to make a
study based on the relationship between marriage and virginity and
between marriage and celibacy. However this would go beyond the
limits of the present considerations.
Value in this life
6. Remaining within the sphere of Christ's words according to
Matthew (19:11-12), we must conclude our reflections with the
following affirmation. First, if continence for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven undoubtedly signifies a renunciation, this
renunciation is at the same time an affirmation: an affirmation that
arises from the discovery of the gift, that is, at the same time
from the discovery of a new perspective of the personal realization
of oneself "through a sincere gift of oneself" (Gaudium et Spes 24).
This discovery still lies in a profound interior harmony with the
significance of the nuptial meaning of the body, bound "from the
beginning" to the masculinity or femininity of man as a personal
subject. Second, although continence for the sake of the kingdom of
heaven is identified with the renunciation of marriage, which in the
life of a man and woman gives rise to the family, in no way can one
see in this a denial of the essential value of marriage. On the
contrary, continence serves indirectly to highlight what is most
lasting and most profoundly personal in the vocation to marriage. It
highlights that which in the dimensions of temporality (and at the
same time in the perspective of the other world) corresponds to the
dignity of the personal gift, bound to the nuptial meaning of the
body in its masculinity or femininity.
Capital significance
7. In this way, Christ's call to continence "for the sake of the
kingdom of heaven," rightly associated to the reference to the
future resurrection (cf. Mt 21:24-30; Mk 12:18-27; Lk 20:27-40), has
a capital significance not only for Christian ethos and
spirituality, but also for anthropology and for the whole theology
of the body, which we discover at its foundation. We remember that
Christ, referring to the resurrection of the body in the other
world, said, according to the version of the three synoptic Gospels,
"When they rise from the dead...they will neither marry nor be given
in marriage..." (Mk 12:25). These words, already analyzed, form part
of our overall considerations on the theology of the body and
contribute to building up this theology.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 10 May
1982, page 3
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