Bishops' Schedules: Schedule of Bishop Robert C. Morlino Thursday, September 4, 2003 12:45 p.m. -- Host Luncheon and Meeting with Senior Priests, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Saturday, September 6, 2003 Attend Badger Football Opening Game, Camp Randall Stadium, Madison Sunday, September 7, 2003 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Mary Parish, Fennimore, with the link of St. Lawrence O'Toole Parish, Mt. Hope, at St. Mary Parish, Fennimore Monday, September 8 - Thursday, September 11, 2003 Attend USCCB Administrative Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C. Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, September 7, 2003 10:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation, St. Albert the Great Parish, Sun Prairie Wednesday, September 10, 2003 1:30 p.m. -- Chair Board Meeting for Office for Continuing Education of Priests, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:00 a.m. -- Preside at Morning Prayer, Parish Leadership Day, Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center, Madison

Sacrament of marriage, celibacy, and priesthood

		Under the Gospel Book + Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Dear Friends,

For some reason marriage seems to be an issue of concern in recent months in these United States. As the very foundational unit of society, as the fulfillment of God's plan for living, male and female, in His image and likeness, it might very well be our concern at all times. However the way in which concern is being directed toward marriage more recently is not altogether helpful.

"We are called to measure the standards of this world by the standards of the Kingdom of God - not the other way around."

In my very first column I addressed various attempts to redefine marriage, a task to which human beings could never be the equal. More recently marriage is being seen as at least a partial solution to the problem in our Church of the priest shortage, that is, admitting married men to the priesthood would help to solve a numbers problem.

The sacrament of marriage is certainly compatible with ordained priesthood. In the Eastern Catholic Churches, married men are frequently admitted to Holy Orders. The obligation of celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church in the West does not flow from the very nature of priesthood, but from the Western Church's call to be the receptacle of the marvelous gift of celibacy for those called to priesthood. In fact even in the Eastern Churches, bishops may be chosen only from among those who are called to celibacy.

Typical American 'solution'

It is typical of the American culture to address the shortage of priests in the same way that one would address, for example, the shortage of Arabic speaking translators among the American military units stationed in Iraq. One strategizes as to how best to market the career of being an Arabic language translator in the military, and many techniques for such marketing present themselves.

One can take the same attitude to the shortage of priests - namely that we solve this problem by better marketing techniques. Celibacy is seen as having a negative impact on our ability to market the priesthood, and therefore it is worth foregoing the Western Church's dedication to this beautiful gift for priests in order to increase the number of priests. This is typical American pragmatism which, from my point of view, has no place whatsoever in the mystical sphere of our Catholic faith which flourishes in the environment of the Eucharist and Holy Orders as I wrote last week.

Jesus Christ calls men to priesthood

For the Catholic Churches of the West to call to Holy Orders only those already called to celibacy is for the Church to place herself completely at the mercy of the one who calls to priesthood and gives the grace of celibacy, namely Jesus Christ Himself. Calling men to priesthood who have already been called to celibacy makes the priesthood absolutely not marketable in any ordinary sense, because celibacy is not marketable.

The shortage of priests can be properly addressed only by Jesus Christ who mysteriously calls through the Church. It is part of the American fix-it mentality that the removal of the obligation of celibacy will make the priesthood more marketable - and perhaps from certain points of view it might. But it also is a step back from total reliance on Jesus Christ in this matter; Jesus Christ alone gives the grace of celibacy.

Americans like to be self-sufficient and to solve their own problems. Responding to the shortage of priests by removing the obligation of celibacy seems to me to be a typical American expression of this desire for self-sufficiency, and when it comes to the call to priesthood, we can never experience ourselves as self-sufficient. We are called to measure the standards of this world by the standards of the Kingdom of God, not the other way around.

There are many other pastoral and financial issues involved with opening up ordained priesthood to married men, not to mention the pastoral difficulty presented by the potential phenomenon of divorced priests, which I choose not to address at this point, because all of those considerations are quite secondary.

Celibacy expresses total commitment

In fact the one called to priesthood claims that he wants to give himself totally to Christ. For a human being to give himself totally to Christ is to give himself mind and body to Christ. Celibacy is the most radical expression of a young man in placing his body where his mind is, that is, totally committed to Christ, as he claims that he wants to be. The call to celibacy is a gift of the most radical integrity in self-donation to Jesus Christ where absolutely nothing is held back, and the radical freedom to serve which celibacy empowers is one of celibacy's first fruits.

Furthermore there are many difficult and sorrowful moments in the life of every human person, including the priest. The priest's faith must mirror the faith of our Blessed Mother who completely trusted that the Lord's Word to her would be fulfilled.

For a young man to sacrifice the companionship of marriage and family at the very outset of his priesthood, and even prior to priestly ordination by the grace of God's wonderful gift, is a very powerful guarantee experienced at the core of the young man's being that the Lord will sustain the priest with His Grace through all of his years of priesthood, no matter what difficulties he may encounter and no matter what temptations he may be exposed to, so that priesthood will truly be forever. If a grace so powerful as that of sacrificing marriage and family for the sake of the Kingdom is given "for openers" as it were, how much more powerful will be the actual graces that follow subsequently in the life of a priest and how profoundly warranted is the trust of the priest in those graces.

It is not surprising that the American media would support the removal of the obligation of celibacy as a help to solving the shortage of priests. It is the American way, which is regrettably bereft of most deeply mystical values. But we can call forth from ourselves and especially from our priests that vision of celibacy as mystical, as God's gift to His Church for the sake of the Kingdom. We should not expect too much in this regard from the secular media. We must expect a great deal of ourselves because so much has been given to us in Christ.

Marriage is a great mystery

Back to marriage for a moment: the truth of marriage is surely trivialized by attempts to redefine it. Using marriage as a partial solution to what is seen as a personnel problem (the shortage of priests) may also serve in the end to trivialize it.

Marriage is not a means to solving any problem - it is a great mystery referring to the union of Christ and His Church. Celibacy is the sacrifice of marriage for the sake of the Kingdom. What an incredible sacrifice! What an incredible outpouring of the Grace of Christ to support that sacrifice.

Praised be Jesus Christ! Thank you for reading this and God bless each one of you.