Tag: Celibacy

Restless Heart: 6 – “Is there life before marriage?” (Part II)

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Bridget

Nessa is back and we’re picking back up our discussion “Is there life before marriage?”. In today’s episode we talk about discernment, virtue and service.

Episode 6: Is there life before marriage? (Download)

 

— Show Notes —

* If you would like to listen to my original talk I gave on this subject to the Goretti Group, it is available here. The YouTube video is also available here.

* During our discussion, Nessa shared a quotation from Catholic Teen Posts on Instagram:

Purity is not the elimination of sexual attraction, but the ordering of sexual attraction demanded by love.

– Catholic Teen Posts

* …and the the quotation I offered from Ravi Zacharias was as follows:

“Chivalry in love has nothing to do with the sweetness of the appearance. It has everything to do with the tenderness of a heart determined to serve”

– Ravi Zacharias

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Eunuchs for the Kingdom?

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Man In PainYesterday, I had a conversation on Facebook about a passage concerning the “eunuchs” in Matthew’s Gospel:

10 The disciples said to him [in response], “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 

11 But [Jesus] said to them, “Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. 12 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.”
– Matthew 19:10-12

What does this text mean? Here’s a five minute explanation…

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Catholic Dating: “Discernment”

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Before we get to the subject of today’s post, I wanted to say that I can tell from the site statistics and the conversations I’ve had over the last couple of weeks that a lot of people have been reading these posts. I would like to thank everyone for taking the time out to read this Englishman’s musings on a rather delicate subject.

Additionally, I would just like to encourage everyone to give their two cents in the Comment Box at the end of each article. You don’t have to use your real name or email address if you’d prefer to remain anonymous. It’s perfectly acceptable to submit comments under the name of “Balaam’s Donkey” or with an email address of papa_francis@gmail.com…

It was my hope that publishing this series would spark some much-needed open discussion among our community. I know that conversations certainly have been going on among different groups, but I’d invite everyone to make use of the Comment Box since, if you share your perspective here, you’ll get to enlighten the entire world (wide web)!

Benedict and iPad

“Hey guys, look! A new post at RestlessPilgrim.net!”

So, now that’s been said, let’s get underway with today’s subject. Today will be a short post about another potential cause for confusion in the Catholic dating scene and a reason why guys might sometimes refrain from asking out the lady folk. It is a uniquely Catholic issue, the question of “discernment”.

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Sunday Lectionary: Oh that today you would listen to His voice…

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4th Sunday in Ordinary Time: 29th January, 2012

Jesus TeachingIn our First Reading, Moses promises that a prophet will come after him, someone who will guide Israel. In the light of the New Testament, we recognize this person to be Jesus Christ who, in this Sunday’s Gospel Reading, not only teaches with authority, but demonstrates that authority by casting out an unclean spirit.

The psalmist in this Sunday’s psalm sings “Oh, that today you would hear his voice…harden not your hearts”. That is our invitation this Sunday. We are invited to come and listen to the voice of the Lord. The word of God is powerful indeed. If we come to the Scriptures with open hearts they have the power to transform our lives….

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The curious case of celibacy

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I’ve written quite a bit lately about my recent period of discernment. I’m sure I will write some more on this subject sometime in the future, but for now I would just like to mention one other thing that has come up during this time.

When I began in earnest to pray about my vocation, I contacted a handful of friends, explained the situation and asked them to pray for me. Also, during this time, when friends asked me “What’s new?” I told them about my discernment (with varying levels of detail) and some of my thoughts about my vocation.

Apart from a few notable exceptions, I noticed a consistent trend among my non-Catholic Christian friends. Whenever I mentioned the word “celibacy”, I almost immediately encountered some resistance, regardless of whether I was talking about celibate life as a layman, priest or monk.

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