I hope that you don't consider marriage a lowering of the standards (for the priesthood or anything else). . . . The Baltimore Catechism published by Catholic Book Publishing is in a question/answer format with some pictures. I'm a homeschooling mom who has used it in conjunction with more up-to-date catechisms just so my kids would be aware of the different ways the faith has & can be taught. I can assure you that this format & its pictures stay with the kids MANY years after using it.This brings to mind the YouTube I posted yesterday from Fr Wesley Schawe, the vocation director at the Diocese of Dodge City. On one hand, he stresses that the Church "needs men who are drawn to the priesthood, not because it's all that's left, but because it's all that's right." He goes on to say. "I am convinced that if a man is not walking away from something . . . then he cannot be fully and truly walking toward his call." In other words, he sees the priesthood as a sacrifice.In the chapter on marriage, the explanation/picture about marriage are 2 pictures side by side. The wording underneath the couple getting married is "This is good." The wording under the picture of the man being ordained is "This is better". This is one of the tensions that has existed in the Church....is it really better to become a priest or religious if God "calls" you to the life of marriage? My "humble" opinion is that we're in this mess of abuse because some of the bishops & priests do think they're better than the married laity. We can be used for gratification & if it's found out, well, we're better than they because God called us to the better life.
I just think we have to be very careful when we make this such a simple choice between doing God's will or not. It's about being in relationship with God. I have no doubt that the loving God who made us will allow us to have a fulfilled life despite choosing marriage over the religious/ordained life & vice versa. I think we like to skip over question #3 in the Baltimore Catechism that reminds us that God made us because He wants to show forth His goodness & share the happiness of Heaven with us (great definition of love, uh?).
Bp Barron makes the point that if everyone were a celibate priest or religious, we wouldn't have a human race, so clearly not everyone is called to that state. As far as I can see, discerning what God calls us to do as individuals is one of our most important tasks in life. We're called to different things. Some of us are called to the sacrifice of priesthood. Some are called to martyrdom, for that matter. I can admire St Maximilian Kolbe without feeling called to sacrifice myself the way he did, though his example should encourage me to discern God's calling and follow through with the fortitude it requires.
But the Church says St Maximilian is already in heaven. I don't know how long I'll be in purgatory. On the other hand, there are married saints, including the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, who had nine children, so the Church, as far as I can tell, has never said married people can't go to heaven.
And look at a converse: if a same-sex attracted man decides to go into the priesthood because he isn't into conjugal love, and in fact, the priesthood would give him a beard to pursue his real interests, then there's no sacrifice at all. This guy isn't "better" by any stretch. It seems to me the Church has traditionally held that there are states in life, and it's good if we behave according to the state in life to which we're called. Some of us have a tough row to hoe, and that's a mystery.
The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard raises a similar point, where the workers who put in a full day are paid the same as the ones who've worked just an hour. That's another mystery. I don't think the Church should be going out of its way to make it easier to become a priest, assuming the factors that draw sincere candidates to the priesthood are there.
