- “I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.” (Henry Ward Beecher)
- “Friendship is “a kind of ‘sacrament’ of celibate love.” (Sandra Schneiders)
- “We must allow ourselves the exhilaration, genuinely felt and shown, and not just spoken about, which comes from loving and being loved. Only in this way, and through this experience, can we come closer to an understanding of a God who is defined as love.” (Francis Moloney)
Understanding Celibate Chastity
Remaining unmarried or not engaging in sex is not what celibate chastity is about. Both these are essential, of course, if one wants to practise celibate chastity. But these are not the essence of celibate chastity. At the heart of celibate chastity lies a profound mystical dynamic—a fascination with Jesus of Nazareth and what he called the “Kingdom of God.” Jesus and his kingdom become so important in our lives that everything else becomes relative, including sexual pleasure, family and children.
The Jesuit writer Peter van Breemen spells this out beautifully:
“In its final analysis, celibacy means being captured by Christ. He is our life (Col. 3, 4), fascinating us so completely that eventually we become unmarriageable. In its deepest sense, this is what celibacy means…. Celibacy does not mean that one has lost something, but rather that the celibate has found Someone.”
Another Jesuit, George Aschenbrenner, shares a similar view. He observed:
FR JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB
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