On the Teleology of Celibacy

Like the Mass, celibacy can be offered for multiple reasons. But one of these reasons is prior to the others.

Teleology, from the Greek word telos, is the study of the end goals of an action. A teleology of celibacy then seeks the true reasons for living celibacy. It answers the questions, "To what end do we pursue celibacy? Why are we doing this?" In the last issue of The Loyal Lion, we used our train diagrams to study the teleology of marriage, or the reasons that motivate the decision to marry. We showed that marital teleology is complex since marriage has many ends, and that the controversy lies in the ordering of these ends more than the ends themselves. But celibacy, like marriage, also has a complex teleology in that there are multiple goals that celibacy can achieve. Thus celibacy, like marriage, can be promoted and chosen for the wrong reasons if these ends become confused. ASJ believes that this is happening today, and celibacy is suffering enormous hurt because of it.

There are in fact two main aspects to the teleology of celibacy, which is properly understood only when both aspects are clearly distinguished. If these two ends become confused or merged into one, we sap celibacy of its true splendor. To illustrate the correct view of celibacy, we make an analogy with the Eucharist, which is also offered for two main reasons that we must never confuse. It is fortunate that we have this clear example within the Church of another activity that also has a dual teleology. It is little surprise that celibacy and the Eucharist should be similar in this regard, as both bind us more closely with Jesus.

The primary reason for offering the Eucharist is the glory of God the Father. This is all the motivation we need for making the Holy Sacrifice. But yet, when offering the Eucharist, we often include some temporal concern as a mass intention. Thus we say, "This mass is being offered for the intentions of the Johnson family." But clearly even had we never heard of the Johnson’s we’d still offer the Holy Sacrifice. It is foolish to think that mere temporal concerns are the main reason an eternal offering.

So the primary end goal of the mass is to please God the Father, and thankfully His Son left us the only true means of achieving this. This transcendental end, or telos, of our offering lies out of this world in the realm of the eternal and spiritual. The mass offering is a secondary telos, a valid end yet subordinate to that of glorifying God. We might say that the major reason for offering mass is to glorify God and to thank Him for the dignity He has graciously conferred upon us. To this we humbly add a secondary reason for the mass, and ask that God heed our petitions if they accord with His Holy will. But if our petitions are not granted, is the mass a waste? Is it a failure? Of course not! Because it is the same offering that Jesus offered, the Eucharist has an infinite value that wins for the entire Church graces known only to God alone. Our offering does not derive its merit from anything it achieves in the temporal sphere. It would be foolish to think this way, and luckily nobody does.

But celibacy is vulnerable to a similar error, and it is one that many Christians do in fact make. For celibacy too has a major and minor purpose, a primary and secondary end. The secondary, temporal end of celibacy is the worldly advantage it offers by freeing people for the service of the gospel. In our Eucharistic analogy, this secondary end corresponds to a mass intention. But nobody should choose celibacy mainly for these reasons, just like we shouldn’t offer mass just for a poor soul in purgatory. Instead, we were going to offer the mass anyway for more important reasons, and we hope that the faithful departed can also benefit from the joy our offering brings to God.

In exactly the same way, there is a more important goal of the celibate life, and this major reason lies in the realm of the eternal and spiritual, not the temporal and secular. The main benefit of celibacy is the supernatural grace that God bestows on the Church as a result of taking pleasure in His celibates and virgins. These gifts, like the granting of the gift of faith, are hard to detect and quantify. We know they are there only through faith. This analogy between the sacrificial aspect of celibacy and that of the Eucharist is confirmed in Sacra Virginitas by Pius XII who refers to the offering of virgins as a "holocaust they have laid on the altar of God."

Now the secondary end of celibacy is the undeniable natural benefits that come from being less burdened by worldly cares. But these achievements, while easier to quantify, are never superior to what celibacy obtains in the supernatural realm. Yet this is going forgotten in our day, as many in the Church act as if the most fundamental reason for celibacy is the flexibility that comes from not having a family to support. Certainly the Church makes use of this inherent property of celibacy to achieve some wonderful practical ends. But however nice these are, they are not the primary motivation for celibacy. This faulty but prevalent view squashes celibacy by putting unbearable pressure on celibates to produce temporal works that "justify" their sacrifice. But celibacy does not derive its merit from external fruits; it is meritorious in itself.

The true motivation for choosing celibacy and/or virginity is to better please God the Father who responds by pouring unseen graces upon the Church. If there were none who were poor, ignorant, or orphaned, Christians would still have a reason to choose celibacy—the joy it brings to The Father because of its more perfect imitation of The Son. In fact, in heaven where there will be no poor, ignorant orphans, Jesus tells us we will all be "like the angels," that is, celibate.

 This article appeared in the September 13, 2006 issue of The Loyal Lion.