Saint John Vianney: A Celibate Man with Scores of Children | From The Grace of Ars | Fr. Frederick L. Miller | Ignatius Insight
Saint Matthew records a discussion Jesus had with the Pharisees and his disciples on the indissolubility of marriage and on the mystery of
virginity or celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. This scriptural text
is the foundation of the Church's understanding of the evangelical counsel of
chastity:Pharisees carne up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder." They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery."In becoming man, the Son of God chose celibacy as his own way of life. He asked the twelve apostles, even though they were married, to leave everything to follow him. Paul, likewise, was celibate and extolled the celibate way of life for those to whom it is given by the Holy Spirit.
The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." But he said to 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 19:3-12)
Clearly, for Christ and Paul, and the other apostles, celibacy is a special grace from God, a gift that is and will continue to be given to men called to share in Christ's mission. The gift of celibacy is given for the sake of building up the Kingdom of God on earth. The celibate makes present and visible in the world the life that all of the redeemed will experience in heaven after the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day.
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