| GENERAL AUDIENCE OF 31 MARCH At the general audience in St
Peter's Square on 31 March, the Holy Father delivered the following
address.
1. We continue our reflections on celibacy and on virginity for the
kingdom of heaven, on the basis of Matthew's Gospel (Mt 19:10-12).
Speaking of continence for the kingdom of heaven and basing it on the
example of his own life, Christ undoubtedly wished that his disciples
should understand it especially in relation to the kingdom which he had
come to announce and for which he indicated the correct ways. The
continence he spoke of is precisely one of these ways. As appears from the
context of Matthew's Gospel, it is an especially effective and privileged
way. Indeed, that preference given to celibacy and virginity for the
kingdom was an absolute novelty in comparison with the old covenant
tradition, and had a decisive significance both for the ethos and the
theology of the body.
His own life a witness
2. Christ, in his statement, points out especially its finality. He
says that the way of continence, to which his own life bore witness, not
only exists and not only is it possible, but it is especially efficacious
and important for the kingdom of heaven. So should it be, seeing that
Christ chose it for himself. If this way is so efficacious and important,
then continence for the kingdom of heaven must have a special value.
As we have already noted, Christ did not approach the problem on the
same level and according to the same line of reasoning in which it was
posed by the disciples when they said: "If such is the case...it is not
expedient to marry" (Mt 19:10). Their words implied a certain
utilitarianism. However, in his reply Christ indicated indirectly that
marriage, true to its original institution by the Creator (we recall that
the Master at this point spoke of the beginning), is fully appropriate and
of a value that is fundamental, universal and ordinary. If this is so,
then continence, on its part, possesses a particular and exceptional value
for this kingdom. It is obviously a question of continence consciously
chosen for supernatural motives.
3. If Christ in his statement points out, before all else, the
supernatural finality of that continence, he does so not only in an
objective sense, but also in a sense explicitly subjective—that
is to say, he indicates the necessity of a motivation that corresponds
adequately and fully to the objective finality implied by the expression
"for the kingdom." To achieve the end in question—that
is, to rediscover in continence that particular spiritual fruitfulness
which comes from the Holy Spirit—then
continence must be willed and chosen by virtue of a deep faith. This faith
does not merely show us the kingdom of God in its future fulfillment. It
permits us and makes it possible for us to identify ourselves in a special
way with the truth and reality of that kingdom, such as it is revealed by
Christ in his Gospel message and especially by the personal example of his
life and manner of behavior. Hence, it was said above that continence for
the kingdom of heaven—as
an unquestionable sign of the other world—bears
in itself especially the interior dynamism of the mystery of the
redemption of the body (cf. Lk 20:35). In this sense it possesses also the
characteristic of a particular likeness to Christ. Whoever consciously
chooses such continence, chooses, in a certain sense, a special
participation in the mystery of the redemption (of the body). He wishes in
a particular way to complete it, so to say, in his own flesh (cf. Col
1:24), finding thereby also the imprint of a likeness to Christ.
Right motivation
4. All this refers to the motivation of the choice (or to its finality
in the subjective sense). In choosing continence for the kingdom of
heaven, man should let himself be guided precisely by this motivation. In
the case in question, Christ did not say that man is obliged to it (in any
event it is certainly not a question of a duty deriving from a
commandment). However, without any doubt, his concise words on continence
"for the kingdom of heaven" place in bold relief its precise motivation.
They point that out (that is, they indicate the finality of which the
subject is well aware), both in the first part of the entire statement,
and also in the second part. They indicate that here it is a question of a
particular choice—a
choice that is proper to a rather exceptional vocation, and not one that
is universal and ordinary.
At the beginning, in the first part of his statement, Christ spoke of
an understanding: "Not all men can understand it, but only those to whom
it is given" (Mt 19:11). It is not a question of an understanding in the
abstract, but such as to influence the decision, the personal choice, in
which the gift, that is, the grace should find an adequate response in the
human will. Such an understanding involves the motivation. Subsequently,
the motivation influences the choice of continence, accepted after having
understood its significance for the kingdom of heaven. In the second part
of his statement, Christ declared then that a man makes himself a eunuch
when he chooses continence for the kingdom of heaven and makes it the
fundamental situation or state of his whole earthly life. In such a firm
decision a supernatural motivation exists, from which the decision itself
originated. It subsists by renewing itself continually.
Viewed in the mystery of redemption
5. Previously we have already turned our attention to the particular
significance of the final assertion. If Christ, in the case quoted, speaks
of making oneself a eunuch, not only does he place in relief the specific
importance of this decision which is explained by the motivation born of a
deep faith, but he does not even seek to conceal the anguish that such a
decision and its enduring consequences can have for a man for the normal
(and on the other hand noble) inclinations of his nature.
The reference to "the beginning" in the problem of marriage enabled us
to discover all the original beauty of that vocation of man, male and
female. This vocation comes from God and corresponds to the twofold
constitution of man, as well as to the call to the communion of persons.
In preaching continence for the kingdom of God, Christ not only took a
stand against the whole tradition of the old covenant, according to which
marriage and procreation were religiously privileged, as we have said. But
in a certain sense he expressed himself even in opposition to that
beginning to which he himself had appealed. Perhaps also for this reason
he nuanced his words with that particular rule of understanding to which
we referred above. The analysis of the beginning (especially on the basis
of the Yahwist text) had demonstrated that, even though it be possible to
conceive man as solitary before God, God himself drew him from this
solitude when he said: "It is not good that the man should be alone; I
will make him a helper fit for him" (Gn 2:18).
6. So then, the double aspect, male and female, proper to the
constitution of humanity, and the unity of the two which is based on it,
remain the work of God "from the beginning," that is, to their ontological
depth. Speaking of continence for the kingdom of heaven, Christ had before
him this reality. Not without reason did he speak of it (according to
Matthew) in the most immediate context in which he referred precisely to
the beginning, that is, to the divine beginning of marriage in the
constitution of man.
On the strength of Christ's words it can be asserted that marriage
helps us to understand continence for the kingdom of heaven. Not only
that, but also continence itself sheds a particular light on marriage
viewed in the mystery of creation and redemption.
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