16th June 2025
A different take on ‘chastity’
“Members of the Third Order fight against all such injustice in the name of Christ, in whom there can be neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for in him all are one. Our chief object is to reflect that openness to all which was characteristic of Jesus. This can only be achieved in a spirit of chastity, which sees others as belonging to God and not as a means of self-fulfilment.”
At the same workshop I mentioned in Green Tau 107, we also reflected on the above. This is the Franciscan (TSSF – Third Order of the Society of St Francis) principle given for day 8. Its understanding of chastity as not making use of someone else, not using someone else as a means of fulfilling our desires, is noteworthy. Making use of other people is something that is easily done, and often unconsciously.
For example when we buy a cup of coffee, is our desire for the drink being satisfied through the exploitation of underpaid coffee workers in distant parts of the world? Is it being met by the exploitation of café staff who scrape by on a zero hours contract and the minimum wage?
The teaching of St Francis (which itself follows the understanding gained from Genesis 2, Job 38 and psalms 19 and 104 etc) is that all parts of creation – birds and animals, sun and moon, wind and fire, and all manner of plants – and not just fellow humans, are our brothers and sisters and should be respected and treated as such, for they are all created by God and each praises God. So when we are asked to see ‘others as belonging to God and not as a means of self-fulfilment’ then included in all those others, are birds and animals, sun and moon, wind and fire, and all manner of plants etc. We should not be using or exploiting that which God has created as our brethren here on Earth.
For example, if we think to buy a dog, we should not see having that dog as a means of satisfying our own needs – maybe for companionship or protection or as an instagram prop – but as a brother or sister worthy of respect and care.
Or for example, if we buy a pint of milk, we should consider whether our desire for milk is being met by a system that sees a cow as a milk-producing machine that will be slaughtered at at the age of 4 to 6 years.
Or for example, when we fly or drive a petrol car, we should consider whether our desire for travel is being met by a system that sees the atmosphere as a useful place to dispose of greenhouse gas emissions even though that space is already over full.
We don’t live in a perfect world, and many of the systems within which we live are not ones we can readily change – but that should not stop us being aware of the times when we are exploiting others and when we can, changing the way we behave, and when we can’t pressing for change.
For the full set of principles and objectives visit https://tssf.org.uk/tssf-downloads/about-the-third-order/the-principles-of-the-third-order/
The Green Tau 