God or the girl
Lionfish sent me a link to this article which talks about a new US reality TV show, documenting the four week period before a number of wannabe priests take their vows.
God or the Girl pits four aspiring young Catholic priests against their libidos during the final four weeks before their decisions to take the church’s Holy Orders, with the vow of chastity.
The first two episodes, fittingly broadcast on Easter Sunday, showed Joe, Dan, Steve and Mike as they steer between the temptations of secular life, including old girlfriends, and the path toward Catholic robes.
At one stage I had a person who actually wasn’t that great a friend but she seemed to spur me to bad behaviour in my rebellious youth. However the funny thing was that she was studying at a Catholic seminary and kept score of how many wannabe priests she turned through use of flirting and lust. It was like it was a particular prize to be achieved.
I have a big question mark about the ban on priests marrying, but I tink that particularly in this environment, the commitment that catholic priests makes is monumental.
April 27th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
I was running up Jacobs Ladder at lunchtime the other week (let the Perth reade understand) and I met a young Catholic seminarian who was training to be a priest.
He spent much of his time working with the aboriginals in NT. I also met some trainee priests on the train late last year.
These guys give it all away to follow Christ. I agree Dan - great examples. One of my heroes is Father Romero.
There is metaphorically and literally speaking a World of difference between the lifestyles of these guys and that of the Prosperity Preacher.
Yes there are abuses in the Catholic Church, but overall - I know who I would rather take my spiritual guidance from. No Millionairre mindsets with these guys.
April 28th, 2006 at 9:22 am
I respect and admire men and women who forego marriage, children etc for the sake of their love for God and desire to serve the church. I do not think it should be a compulsory lifestyle though and I think that the Catholic church may get more people putting themsleves forward for ordination if they allowed married priests.
Having said that though, I think other traditions that do allow marriage are still suffering a lack of prospective ministry applicants (other than Sydney Anglicans who just had a phenominal and record breaking ordination of over 40 deacons!)
The call to ministry is always a hard call to follow, the call to celibacy even harder.
April 28th, 2006 at 10:54 am
For me, the chastity aspect of the priesthood is amazing, but just as amazing are the vows of poverty and obedience. I might be able to manage chastity, with the grace of God…but obedience? Wow….
April 28th, 2006 at 10:54 am
LF Oscar Romero is a big hero in our family - one of our dogs was named after him as well!!
May 1st, 2006 at 11:29 am
Interesting isn’t it. I think it would take special kind of people. I don’t understand the need to ignore your sexuality to somehow better persue God though. Another spin would be to marry but deny yourself having children without the competing demands on your time. But that one has never surfaced as a credible alternative. But I agree that for those that do it well, it is to be greatly admired.
May 3rd, 2006 at 2:46 pm
God or the girl…. why do we need choose? How about both!
May 5th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
is there such thing as a call to celibacy? i tend to view celibacy as nuetral with a call to marry. is this just semantics or have we come to have a cultural expectation?
May 9th, 2006 at 12:56 am
Sex is the great distraction of the Christian gospel.. Christians should probably stop talking about it, and have more of it.
Provocative as that statement may seem, it is very sad that the ‘good news to the poor’ message has become so easily perverted by the insecurities of charismatic but conflicted theologians like Augustine and Origen.
How does the Christian gospel presume to have any authority to speak into what people do in their bedrooms. What is more important? What people do between the sheets (where very few people will see them) and what they do during the waking hours (when everyone can see them)?
I’m not saying that we should be promiscuous, but there is an unhealthy preoccupation with sexuality in some sections of the Christian church.
And popular culture is obsessed by it. ‘Be sexy. Be cool. Be popular!’ Trumpet the great advertising evangelists of our society, through the great CRT and Plasma Canon of our time: TV.
How very interesting that a television show has chosen to depict the existential question in such simple terms. Where is the means of your transcendence? Is it found in the great eternal search for God, or in some lacy underpants and an edible bra…?
Hmm. An edible bra…