HOW MANY CELIBATES DO YOU KNOW WHO ARE NEITHER PRIESTS NOR NUNS?

I'll bet my lunch money that it is more than you readily admit, until you really think about it.  It is possible that you haven't given this much thought. 
Here's your chance to join me in giving it some.
I have been living in the presence of celibacy for my entire life.  I didn't know it's name of course when I first observed it.  I just stood by and admired the nearly one dozen people within my immediate circle of familial influence.  You know, Aunts, Uncles, first and second degree Cousins and finally, in one case, very intimate friends.  One of these people was my very own God-Father.  He and his adopted sister (first degree cousin) never married.  Not because they did not have the opportunities or the human desires and attractions but because they gave themselves over to caring for their aging parents.


We had a family of many people who were caring for  family members.  There were three pairs of sisters who remained unmarried all their lives in order to dedicate themselves to the care of parents and siblings who were unable to sustain themselves without help.


You may be asking yourselves why I am expressing this thought today.  It is because I know a person who has made a decision to dedicate herself to her family and to the Church.  It is a miraculous decision and the story behind it is compelling.  It is the story of a person whose biography, if written on paper would make a "page-turner" of a book, even in this day and age of electronic reading...like this.
There is a lot to be said for volunteer celibacy.  It is definitely a sign to the world that there are bigger rewards than those that the majority seek.  It is a sign that the more that is given, the more is received.  That is not to mean that matrimony is less than celibacy.  It is to say that for the very few for whom celibacy, in any of its usual environments, priesthood, nun-hood and dedicated family care giver, school teacher,  is a holy call that has great rewards for the devoted one in this life and in the Eternal Kingdom.  When I consider these people, I admire them, I pray for them and I urge God to stay by them and strengthen them for the battles that they will have to win along the way.  Join me, OK?


Those of you who know me will surely ask:  Really, now?  And how about you?  You' better be ready for the long answer!