Working groups, group 7

Consecrated chastity is a single-minded love for God marked by a passion for Jesus Christ and his Good News. It opens our hearts to His mission and to relationships with men and women of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures. At the same time, it is that unique sign that distinguishes us from other believers and the dimension of our life that helps us to transcend ourselves and to work for the cause of justice in our world and Church, standing in solidarity with God’s poor among us. At a time when individualism is on the rise in so many parts of our world, consecrated celibacy leads to a deeper relationship with Jesus, and the Father and Spirit, and to greater acceptance of the love of others as though it is the Lord’s own.

We choose consecrated celibacy freely and see it as the best way for us to live out our sexuality in a healthy and balanced way. As a consequence, we pledge ourselves to do all that we can to break down the walls that we have built between God and ourselves, and between ourselves and other fellow pilgrims on this earth: walls of silence and suspicion, of fear and frustration, of prejudice and intolerance.

We realize also our need to refresh each day the commitment we have made and to guard against rigid sex roles and false gods such as workaholism that can cause us forget that it is the Lord’s work that we do and not our own.

In our discussions these days, we have come to see again that there are many signs of vitality present in religious life and in our lives of consecrated celibacy. We are developing a vocabulary that will help us share more honestly our experience of sexuality and celibate chastity. So, too, there are more trained guides to assist us on our journey. We are also more at home with our bodies, our feelings, our relationships with others. Most importantly, we have deepened our appreciation of the fact that our consecrated celibacy is seen at its best when it is seen by ourselves and others to have been undertaken for the sake of God’s kingdom and God’s reign.

And so, like Nicodemus of old we believe that we have been born anew, and have come to see that with grace and the Lord in our life truly his yoke is easy and his burden light. Uncoupled for the sake of God’s kingdom, we are not unduly disturbed by those who fail to see that creation is charged with the grandeur of God and pledge ourselves to life fully and freely this call that is ours.



	GROUP 7 30 Participants: 21 nationalities, 27 congregations CONSECRATED CELIBACY Consecrated chastity is a single-minded love for God marked by a passion for Jesus Christ and his Good News. It opens our hearts to His mission and to relationships with men and women of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures. At the same time, it is that unique sign that distinguishes us from other believers and the dimension of our life that helps us to transcend ourselves and to work for the cause of justice in our world and Church, standing in solidarity with God’s poor among us. At a time when individualism is on the rise in so many parts of our world, consecrated celibacy leads to a deeper relationship with Jesus, and the Father and Spirit, and to greater acceptance of the love of others as though it is the Lord’s own. We choose consecrated celibacy freely and see it as the best way for us to live out our sexuality in a healthy and balanced way. As a consequence, we pledge ourselves to do all that we can to break down the walls that we have built between God and ourselves, and between ourselves and other fellow pilgrims on this earth: walls of silence and suspicion, of fear and frustration, of prejudice and intolerance. We realize also our need to refresh each day the commitment we have made and to guard against rigid sex roles and false gods such as workaholism that can cause us forget that it is the Lord’s work that we do and not our own. In our discussions these days, we have come to see again that there are many signs of vitality present in religious life and in our lives of consecrated celibacy. We are developing a vocabulary that will help us share more honestly our experience of sexuality and celibate chastity. So, too, there are more trained guides to assist us on our journey. We are also more at home with our bodies, our feelings, our relationships with others. Most importantly, we have deepened our appreciation of the fact that our consecrated celibacy is seen at its best when it is seen by ourselves and others to have been undertaken for the sake of God’s kingdom and God’s reign. And so, like Nicodemus of old we believe that we have been born anew, and have come to see that with grace and the Lord in our life truly his yoke is easy and his burden light. Uncoupled for the sake of God’s kingdom, we are not unduly disturbed by those who fail to see that creation is charged with the grandeur of God and pledge ourselves to life fully and freely this call that is ours.