A call to be chaste..........
The scandal involving the priesthood in the Catholic Church has been very much publicized of late and people are rightfully angry! It seems to have been going on for a while now and some people are debating on whether or not the religious vow of chastity should be relaxed by the church. Someone was even saying even St. Peter had a wife.
Jesus called the disciples from their normal lives to a higher vocation! Indeed, Peter had a wife and i think some of the others did as well but their lives are always transformed when they encounter Christ. There are so many examples of the call to chastity but i will mention a few. We shall start with Mary of Magdala. When she first encountered Jesus, she was a wealthy and very beautiful young woman who indulged in many affairs with men. She was considered by the society to be a loose and immoral woman. But when she encounters Christ, she is changed forever! She becomes a model of true virtue and chastity!
Let us also take the example of my patron saint, Philomena. A young and beautiful princess from a small grecian state. She was desired by the emperor Diocletian of Rome but she had already vowed to live only for Christ, her true spouse! The emperor tried to persuade her with gifts and later with cruelty but listen to her response " i neither care for you as a lover nor fear you as a tyrant!" When i first heard about her story, i was amazed and from then on, she has always been my patroness.
There are countless examples of people gave their lives only to Christ. In matthew 19 Jesus speaks of vocations. There are no easy paths in life but chastity is one of the vocations and it is an irrevocable part of religious life. The problem isn't chastity, the problem is laxity which has allowed homosexuals to be ordained as priests! Those called to religious life cannot have any inclinations whatsoever to impurity and we cannot as a church be lax about that!
May the lord help us in our different paths in life to fulfill his purpose and will for us. May our mother Mary, always the perfect example of purity and chastity intercede for us. Amen.
Jesus called the disciples from their normal lives to a higher vocation! Indeed, Peter had a wife and i think some of the others did as well but their lives are always transformed when they encounter Christ. There are so many examples of the call to chastity but i will mention a few. We shall start with Mary of Magdala. When she first encountered Jesus, she was a wealthy and very beautiful young woman who indulged in many affairs with men. She was considered by the society to be a loose and immoral woman. But when she encounters Christ, she is changed forever! She becomes a model of true virtue and chastity!
Let us also take the example of my patron saint, Philomena. A young and beautiful princess from a small grecian state. She was desired by the emperor Diocletian of Rome but she had already vowed to live only for Christ, her true spouse! The emperor tried to persuade her with gifts and later with cruelty but listen to her response " i neither care for you as a lover nor fear you as a tyrant!" When i first heard about her story, i was amazed and from then on, she has always been my patroness.
There are countless examples of people gave their lives only to Christ. In matthew 19 Jesus speaks of vocations. There are no easy paths in life but chastity is one of the vocations and it is an irrevocable part of religious life. The problem isn't chastity, the problem is laxity which has allowed homosexuals to be ordained as priests! Those called to religious life cannot have any inclinations whatsoever to impurity and we cannot as a church be lax about that!
May the lord help us in our different paths in life to fulfill his purpose and will for us. May our mother Mary, always the perfect example of purity and chastity intercede for us. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment