Neither am I one who punches the Air

But I tilt at Windmills Sometimes

I Corinthians 9 is worth reading in whole. Now read it again slower. Not to beat a dead horse, or a headless ostrich standing in quicksand, but this makes it pretty clear that there was some "right" for the apostles to be married, just like the "brethren of the Lord" and Cephas (Simon/Peter, the Rock, aka First Pope) and all the other apostles of an age to be married. It's as old a right as that Ox you don't get to muzzle (or gore) according to Moses. You don't get to Muzzle an Ox because Ox's have to eat too. They are especially hungry it seems when they are working. And 1 Corinthians talks about a "Hope" that is rooted in the Rights there enumerated. Who says the Bible doesn't give people rights? The one to "have a wife" is as important it seems as the one to be able to make a living from the work of the gospel. Priests ate then too what was left over of the sacrament just like they get to down the rest of the wine at the altar.

Paul concludes that-hey- I have this right just like everyone else, but I really don't want to be a stumbling block to anyone, or cause scandal- because that would render everything I am doing fruitless. It would just defeat the purpose- I would be as one boxing in the air.

So the test has nothing to do with holiness or purity in a pure sense. It has to do with the perceptions, and whether the perceptions of taking and providing for a "wife" would cause a perception that defeated the message.

So it is the perceptions and the reception of the message that has to be analyzed to see whether a stumbling block arises in assessing the appropriateness of abstinence from marriage.

Air-boxing can be caused by a variety of other perceptions creating stumbling blocks- such that a married Apostle/priest would in fact be someone who was not perceived as Paul was, while a single Priest/Apostle might be the light-weight champion of the World.

The other apostles apparently felt they could multi-task better than Paul. They could look after the needs of a wife and visa-versa and be effective in getting out the message. Paul was a unique frequent flier. He walked all over from Jerusalem to Rome and everywhere in between. Not likely that he would find anyone willing to pack the dishes that often. He took out a lot of take-out. Other people prefer regular home cooking and it makes them more effective.

There apparently is a solid Right- one exercised by most of the Apostles, Cephas and the brothers of the Lord himself. If it was so unholy wouldn't Jesus be reading the riot act to his own brothers? And if it was so unholy to have a wife why would he choose Peter as the Rock instead of John the Baptist for example or any other single person to be the Rock? Something about Married makes one a Rock. It's that old family stability thing.

And today's reading says it all- why are we putting this yoke on people so heavy to bear? What's the point? Really. The reference to "unlawful marriage" is translated in other versions as "sexual immorality"- which is conjugal relations outside proper lawful marriage. It is unlawful because it is not an actual lawful marriage- it is the conjugal act outside the lawful marriage. That is an admonition against unchastity. It is not an admonition against marriage to anyone.

And somehow the above "rights" give life to Hope. They give Life.
And He came that you should have Life, and have it abundantly.