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  • You are here: Blogs Directory / Personal / Meghan's Blog / Comment List Welcome Guest

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    Meghan,
    You ask good questions.
    In 1Corinthians 7 Paul talks about this question. I picked out some of the key verses below.

    :1Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. 2But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 3The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

    32I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34and his interests are divided.

    37But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing.

    Paul knows that “being single for God’ isn’t for everyone. I think it is for very, very few. But his point is that ministry can take all of your time, including time that should be given to your family. I have never been a pastor but have been close enough to see that all of the demands on a pastor (or priest) puts a huge pressure on a family. It would be ideal if a man could devote himself to God’s work and not have any other demands on his time. As long as he could resist the sexual temptations that would come. But, as I said, very few people could live up to that.
    On the other hand, a big part of ministry is counseling families; either formally like you may be doing some day, or just in every day encounters with people. It would be hard for a single man with no children to give sound advice on marriage and raising kids. And I believe that favors married pastors with families. I am often amused by advice on families that I hear from people without families.
    In the end, I think the Catholic church shouldn’t require priests to be single. Recent news certainly seems to back that up. There are other debates about Catholic beliefs that have been going for centuries. Are we saved by faith alone or is how we act part of it? Should we make our confessions to a priest? Should there be people between us and God? This isn’t to say that there aren’t good Catholics, just questions about some of their doctrines.

    2007-05-12 13:15:58 Posted by Jon ()

    Meghan,

    First of all, you are never out of line to ask a question. Out of line would be to refuse sound advice. Not all advice is all that sound, however. Not a very good answer for someone like you who is struggling to make sense of these things, I know, but it is one of the crucial things you need to understand.

    I still await you to visit my Odd Stuff blog. If you go to my Daily Study Blog (yeah, right!) I have a link in my blog roll to it. I really do want to get a point across to you before adding further advice.

    On what your underlying question is: Marry or not, it goes farther than just priests and ministers. Jon covers that fairly well.

    I just want to add another passage for you to read and think upon, the very words of Jesus:



    3And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one's wife for any and every cause?

    4He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,

    5And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?

    6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).

    7They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife?

    8He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been so [ordained].

    9I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

    10The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.

    11But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.

    12For there are eunuchs who have been born incapable of marriage; and there are eunuchs who have been made so by men; and there are eunuchs who have made themselves incapable of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let him who is able to accept this accept it.




    Matthew 19:3-12 (Amplified Bible)


    This is not a complete answer as you may desire, but the truth is this: The answer differs from person to person, as it is given to them by God Himself to understand this...

    In Christ,

    Mel
    2007-05-15 16:40:59 Posted by Mel ()

    Ok, its time to hear from you again. Is school done yet? How's church hunting?
    2007-05-28 12:25:09 Posted by Jon ()

    <<Echoes Jon's sentiments>>

    ;'{P
    2007-06-04 11:51:13 Posted by Mel ()

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