Day 305: The Call to Chastity

Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being. Sexuality, in which man's belonging to the bodily and biological world is expressed, becomes personal and truly human when it is integrated into the relationship of one person to another, in the complete and lifelong mutual gift of a man and a woman. The virtue of chastity, therefore, involves the integrity of the person and the integrality of the gift. CCC 2337

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the call to chastity. Everyone is called to chastity, but not all are called to celibacy. Understanding the difference between the two is key.

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

People are not objects. They are not things to be used. They are persons to be loved. And yet, we often have a distorted vision of other people, where we treat people as things to be used and as objects. Chastity involves learning how to rule ourselves and not be a slave...St. Augustine said, "My perverse will gave rise to my lust. And serving this lust, I established a habit. And since I did not resist this habit, a kind of necessity was born. Thus, link joined to link in what I have called a chain, enslaving me in harsh bondage." If we do not overcome our passions, they will overcome us. (p. 126)

Finally, Fr. Bonaventure Chapman & Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress do a good job explaining the difference between chastity and celibacy: