Luke 4:38-44

          12 year tradition or Peter's mother-in-law

          38 And he arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they besought him for her. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately she rose and served them. 40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on  every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, "You are the Son of God!" But he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak, because they knew  that he was the Christ. 42 And when it was day he departed and went into a lonely place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving  them; 43 but he said to them, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose." 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

          This blog is such a wonderful thing. It has given me new discipline and  a vibrancy to my spiritual life. And today, it gives me license to comment on scriptures the way many a good Roman Catholic would like to but do so only in the safe haven of their own thoughts or private conversation.

          I would like to make comments on the fact that Peter, the Rock, the head of the church, our first Pope (although that title had not yet been created), the vicar of Christ here on earth  - was married. A holy man for sure but, you know,  a heterosexual, get down and dirty, married man.  A human for God's sake.

           The fact is, in sifting through Church history, we find an extensive list of married Priests, Bishops and Deacons (and even, Heaven forbid, women Priests, that will remain for another blog). This unholy  arrangement (of men and women together as God created them) was allowed, then discouraged and eventually banned in the Roman Catholic Church about the year 1000 AD. Hmmm. So if you balance the first 1000 years against the second thousand years, the 'tradition' of celibacy is a very rich 12 years old. But lets sift through some of the information we have. Even when it was 'outlawed', many a Priest, Bishop and Pope had not only wives, but concubines and mistresses.  

          The history is truly rich, here's a small sampling. The Council of Elvira, Spain in the year 306, decree #43: a priest who sleeps with his wife the night before Mass will lose his job. Really? How about St. Augustine in 401 AD, he wrote, “Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman.” This is from a man who clearly had many sexual issues. And note, this seems counter to, uh, the creation story where God created man and woman to be together. One of my favorites is Pope Urban II (1095 AD), Urban II had priests’ wives sold into slavery, children were abandoned. So very Christian, I'm sure this is what Jesus had in mind all along. I hope you get the sarcasm because it really isn't funny. The history of Priests, Bishops and Popes who were married or who themselves were the child of a Pope, Bishop or Priest is  legion. I could go on but to what end?

           Two last points. The Roman Catholic church, which itself has a tremendous history of holy men with sexual dysfunctions and liaisons of all sorts is hardly in a position to speak to anyone about morals and what constitutes normal. Their fixation on homosexuality only alludes to more disfunction on their part as well as institutionalized ignorance.  Perhaps the idea of  committed loving relationships that actually work is what disturbs them, who knows.

            My last point, perhaps a bit late, is a statement about the clergy of the Roman Catholic church. Even though I have been generous heaping criticism on the Church, I would not want to dismiss the good work and faith of the so, so many wonderful Priests and Bishops that live spectacularly holy and wonderful lives. Furthermore, I would acknowledge that there is a gift or a calling to celibacy but it should never be a mandate or prerequisite to serve. It was certainly not to Jesus. It is still not a requirement in many of the Eastern Rite churches.

          Let's just leave it at this - remember that Peter had a mother-in-law. End of story.