I have one question Enz... minyo ba tong mga apostoles? Of course the answer is a big YES, except for John. Unya, just because they left everything and their families, wa na magpasabot nga ge-erase/ge-annul sa Ginoo ang ilang kaminyoon. Maybe we can look at it as if the disciples were making that great big sacrifice in leaving their families and join Christ's group to do missions to the known world... wa man to sila mo apply og divorce tawon o e annul ilang kaminyoon. So, there you are, the Holy Apostles were all married people and they were even the first bishops of the Church. Mao sad tong early times sa Church, mga minyo sad tong mga kaparian ug mga ka obispohan. Only later on nga ge introduced ang celibacy sa balaod sa simbahan. Dugay pod to silang lalis atong panahona sa Batasang Pambansa hehehe, basin nakaingon pod tag overnight decision ra pod to. Those were real issues in real time. So, Enz, I don't think you can bank on Apostolic Tradition as basis on celibacy issues because it never were.
Of course, we are called to uphold the laws of the Church... and I don't disagree on that. That particular law was in placed even before I became a priest, so I had my choice... and I chose freely and willingly to travel that road.
Road less traveled man daw kini, so at the start of the journey wa pod mi kahibaw o ma suheto unsa nga klase nga karsada kini... aspalto ba ni o concrete, lapok ba o daghang libaong, tul-id ba o likoon. After 25 years, medyo na suheto-suheto napod. But I can't tell you how many times nanga-dam-ag ang mga niagi ani. Like in some Biblical stories of old, there were stories, too, about travelers being ambushed along the way. Dihay uban nakakita apan wala motabang; apan dinha say mga Good Samaritans who extended themselves to lend a helping hand... which makes the journey a little worthwhile maski lisod.
So pray for your priests as they pray for all people too. Naay panahon nga silay madam-ag, naa poy panahon nga kita. Kristiyanismo man kaha atong gesunod nga dalan, aw, maningkamot god pod ta nga Kristiyano pod atong binuhatan og pamuyo.
Well put, Fr. Though I must infer that Apostolic Tradition is the very foundation of the the enactments of the church, just from my own personal research in Vatican promulgations. St. Paul the Apostle tells us:
I would that all men were even as myself; but every one hath his proper gift from God .... But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they so continue, even as I.
But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of this world how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your profit, not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent and which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impediment. (1 Corinthians 7:7-8 and 32-35)----
In regards to the Apostles, their sacrificial abandonment of wordly pursuits in order to follow the Son of Man, is exemplary of the lives of priests. It is the pretext, you can say, the primordial basis of celibacy that is accepted in the Catholic Church, to this day, as is reiterated in the Sacrament of Orders.
"You ought anxiously to consider again and again what sort of a burden this is which you are taking upon you of your own accord. Up to this you are free. You may still, if you choose, turn to the aims and desires of the world (licet vobis pro artitrio ad caecularia vota transire). But if you receive this order (of the subdiaconate) it will no longer be lawful to turn back from your purpose. You will be required to continue in the service of God, and with His assistance to observe chastity and to be bound for ever in the ministrations of the Altar, to serve who is to reign."
(Bishopric message in the sacrament of orders on chastity).
Thank you for your deep message, Father.
I humbly accept it as wisdom you share with all of us, myself included.
Yours In Christ,
Lorenzo
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