Posted September 10, 2003
Statements on Celibacy Worth Pondering
Celibacy breeds creativity. It is a powerful force in our life that can be used to either enhance our life or hinder our spirit. The personal meaning and value of celibacy must out way the law of celibacy. If not, then the experience of celibacy will be labored and burdensome.
Celibacy as a positive sacrifice opens my awareness and brings the best out of me so that I can witness to the community of love and mercy at its best.
My celibacy allows me to become an image of Jesus with skin so that the community can touch, relate, love and care. I receive these gestures of affection and give these gestures of affection so that others will do the same.
Celibacy can either be a choice or a consequence. If celibacy is reduced to a consequence then there is less chance for personal growth and happiness. Remember that today there are millions of men and women who have been forced into celibacy because of separation, divorce, widowhood, health or personal trauma. Whether you have a choice for celibacy or have been forced into it by consequence you will need to learn how to manage the biological, psychological and social dimensions of this powerful discipline called celibacy.
Healthy and conscious celibacy is a matter of life and/or death for clergy, religious and professional helpers. There is little or no room in the eyes of the public for error in one’s practice and application of celibacy.
The purpose and meaning we give to celibacy provides the courage and power we need to manage such a stance against the natural sex drive. Little purpose and impoverished meanings for celibacy guarantees a step into unconscious celibacy.
As public celibates, we are called to become professionals at sublimation and creative expressions of libido.
Celibacy by its very purpose provokes a eucharistic presence to the community we serve.
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