Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 145 - Part IV.

YOUCAT Question n. 145 - Part IV. Why does Jesus want there to be Christians who live their whole lives in poverty, unmarried chastity, and obedience?

(Youcat answer - repeated) God is love. He longs for our love also. One form of loving surrender to God is to live as Jesus did — poor, chaste, and obedient. Someone who lives in this way has head, heart, and hands free for God and neighbor.   

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 921) They manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord, to whom he has surrendered his life simply because he is everything to him. Here is a particular call to find in the desert, in the thick of spiritual battle, the glory of the Crucified One.     

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) In every age individual Christians let themselves be completely taken over by Jesus, so that “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 19:12) they give everything away for God—even such wonderful gifts as their own property, self-determination, and married love. This life according to the evangelical counsels in poverty, chastity, and obedience shows all Christians that the world is not everything. Only an encounter with the divine Bridegroom “face to face” will ultimately make a person happy.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 922) From apostolic times Christian virgins and widows (Vita consecrata 7), called by the Lord to cling only to him with greater freedom of heart, body, and spirit, have decided with the Church's approval to live in a state of virginity or perpetual chastity "for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven" (Mt 19:12; cf. l Cor 7:34-36).    

(This question: Why does Jesus want there to be Christians who live their whole lives in poverty, unmarried chastity, and obedience? is continued)