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“...purifying ourselves before purifying others.”
Every priest is called to be the “living image”of Jesus, and therefore “should seek to reflect in himself, as far as possible, the human perfection which shines forth in the incarnate Son of God. the priest should mold his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ"(43).
The human perfection of Christ does not make Him less fully human, but precisely more so. He is what God wills all of us to become. The priest becomes more human, not less, by striving for the full human maturity which shows itself in the natural virtues. Thus, the Holy Father writes, “Future priests should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of one's self, but also with a view to the ministry. These qualities are needed for them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. They need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person, to have a sense of justice, to be true to their word, to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and, especially, to be balanced in judgment and behavior”(43).
For the celibate priest, the “nuptial meaning of the body”is expressed by reserving physical sexual expression in the same way that Jesus did. Just as Christ offered Himself on the cross as a consummation of the marriage between Himself and the Church, it is by making of their bodies a spiritual sacrifice (Rm. 12:1) that priests wed themselves to the Bride of Christ. “The Church, as the spouse of Jesus Christ, wishes to be loved by the priest in the total and exclusive manner in which Jesus Christ her head and spouse loved her”(29).
While grace can overcome any weakness, seminarians should strive for an understanding of self which neither discounts the importance of their God-given sexuality nor naively underestimates the demands of a celibate life. In a very real way, the seminary is a period of prenuptial preparation in which a man seeks, by the grace of God, to make himself the sort of man the Church wants and needs as her spouse.
Just as marriage requires free and willing consent, the gift of celibacy can only be received if it is freely and willingly embraced by the priest. Unfortunately, some people in recent decades resent it, hope it will be changed, or internalize it in a purely legalistic way. Yet without consent to the bride, the priestly life will never be as fruitful as it can be. This consent to the Church is expressed and consummated in each priest's loving and generous availability to God's people. As the Catechism so beautifully states, “Accepted with a joyous heart, celibacy radiantly proclaims the Reign of God”(CCC, 1579).