Jesus said, "Leave everything and follow me"

Allowing married Anglican and Lutheran pastors to serve as Catholic priests after conversion makes a mockery of the "discipline" of celibacy. If priests "should be ready to leave everything, including career and family, to go where [Jesus] wants and to serve in the way he wants," then married men should never be able to serve as priests. Shouldn't married Protestant clergymen be welcomed with open arms as Catholic laymen while being respectfully told that they cannot serve as priests? If a married man is too "anxious about worldly affairs [and] how to please his wife," how can he be capable of the "self-giving" that is required to be a good priest?

If men who marry as Protestants can serve as Catholic priests, then men who marry as Catholics should be able to become priests as well. (Allowing men who are already priests to marry is a different issue.)

There is no way for a defender of the Catholic Church's current behavior to win this argument. One of the following must be true:
1. The church should not allow any married man to serve as a priest.
2. The Eastern-rite discipline should be adopted.
3. Priestly celibacy requirements should be completely eliminated.

Counterww,
'preciate the reply/comment. i have read all of the entire bible at least once and some parts many times. only the most convoluted reading of those "tribulations" verses i quoted could see them as fulfilled in the resurrection or the destruction of jerusalem. read them again, from the perspective of those standing right in front of him.

he said, repent, for the kingdom of god is at hand.” he said there will be “signs.” there will be “wars, famines, plagues and earthquakes.” the “sun will be darkened,” the “stars will fall” and the “heavens will be shaken.” he told his disciples when they “see these things,” they are to “look up” – for they will see him “returning in glory” “on a cloud” with “angels” and “trumpets” in “judgment” to “redeem” the faithful and cast the wicked into hell. there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” for unbelievers and “eternal life” for believers. simply put, he predicted his death and resurrection would be followed by a period of earthly turmoil, his return in judgment, the destruction of the earth, hell for unbelievers and heaven for believers. and he didn’t say, “sometime in the distant future” or “in 1000 years,” he said things like, “all these things will happen to YOU.

Another doubter in Walter. Paul and others expected Jesus soon, but knew also that soon was a relative term. When Paul talked about marriage, he was speaking about his own opinion and nothing about the 2nd coming was in the mix on that. You are plainly wrong.

As for your verses you "think" you know, that JESUS SAID- it has to do with Jesus kingdom coming which it did once he died and rose again.

Better get with the program, dude. Jesus died and rose again to conquer death and sin for YOU too. Better read the entire NT before commenting. Jesus also said that there would signs but that only the Father knows the coming of the Son again. We are in the age of grace where you can choose him or reject him, its your choice.

neither jesus (to the extent scripture accurately recaords anything he "said") nor paul nor any NT authors thaought anything they wrote would become church doctrine for centuries to come.

they all thought the end was near. paul was counselling people alive in first-century judea. matthew/mark/luke/john/paul thought it would happen in their lifetimes. (Mt10:23, Mt16:28, Mt23:36, Mt24:29-35, Mk9:1, Mk13:24-31, Lu9:27, Lu21:25-33) paul basically said, "if your married now, stay married, if you're not married, don't get married. it doesn't matter anyway because jesus is coming back SOON to collect believers. the important thing for him was that you become a believer right away because jesus was coming soon.

Nice Julia. Take scriptures out of context or any person 's words on this earth out of context and you can say anything negative you want. Dan Barker is no historian- just a negative, flaming atheist that hates anything and everything Christianity stands for.

You never addressed the issue here as all you want to do is rail on anything you can about God.

tony55398,

A follow up on my last post to you, still replying to your statement on celibacy. Have you ever been celibate for an extended period by your own choice? It is not a question that I need the answer to, but it is a crucial aspect of the experience. If we are celibate by situation, (lack of a sexual partner, for instance), as opposed to by choice, the experience may be less than satisfactory. One is never at peace, always wanting. A state of constant wanting is counterproductive to a state of peace, and the tranquility that arises.

Second part is your comment that celibacy does not make one more pure. Though celibacy alone may not, sexual activity and the freedom to be sexual certainly is no guarantee of purity. Many of the most heinous crimes involve violent and deviant sexuality.

Hello tony55398,

"Being celibate does not make a person better at anything and it certainly doesn't make anyone more pure,..."

Can you support that statement, or is it just your belief? I have to assume the second, if for no other reason than it is impossible to say any choice of sexual orientation is negative for all.

Early writings of the Church suggest that all the apostles were married when chosen by Jesus except John. However, from the Bible we only know of the marriage of Peter (there is mention of his mother-in-law).

Cases in point: Jesus was disrespectful of his mother and brothers; he said we should hate our parents and desert our families. Mt. 10:35-36, Lk. 14:26 (So much for “Christian family life.”) He denounced anger, but was often angry himself. Mt. 5:22, Mk. 3:5 He called people “fools” (Mt. 23:17,19), “serpents,” and “white sepulchers,” though he warned that such language puts you in danger of hellfire. Mt. 5:22 He said “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword." Mt. 10:34 (So much for “Peace on Earth.”) He irrationally cursed and withered a fig tree for being barren out of season. Mt. 21:19 He mandated burning unbelievers. Jn. 15:6 (The Church has complied with relish.) He stole a horse. Lk. 19:30-33 He told people to cut off hands, feet, eyes and sexual organs. Mt. 5:29-30, 19:12 You want me to accept Jesus, but I think I'll pick my own friend, thank you. A famous historian named Dan Barker indexed all the previous points.

Jesus made many bizarre, irrational, and factually erroneous statements. Paul, whose "visions of Jesus" sound like they could be epileptic seizures, did the same. Much of Jesus' and Paul's advice is harmful and unhealthy. Christianity is an outdated superstition which ought to be put on the "entertaining mythology" shelf alongside Zeus and Odin.

Jesus Himself chose married men to be Apostles and as it were Priests at a time when it was a great deal more difficult to pursue their vocation to the building up the Church, as to Paul he was speaking for himself, his opinion, not Christ's, as to the renouncing of sex it was believed to be a necessary evil and not as it should be perceived as an act of Love, in which God participates, and He of course does in the act of sex as well as in the creation of new life. Being celibate does not make a person better at anything and it certainly doesn't make anyone more pure, more virgin, if properly understood,for true virginity rests in the heart ,likewise more education doesn't give a person more common sense nor makes one more Christlike,as I have seen far too often. Tony Rotz