In this instance the call of Jesus clearly implies that detachment from a natural family is the condition for entering the circle of a new spiritual family. Jesus does not forbid us to love or honour our father and mother, (for not one dot or stroke shall disappear from the law), simply that the vocation means total detachment from the family in order to go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
I think that this is where we can see the implicit link between the priestly call and celibacy, because detachment from a particular family is implicit in the call to follow Jesus for the good of the universal family.
Seen in this light, celibacy is not a renunciation. It has a negative meaning only if we fail to demonstrate clearly that whoever is called is destined to become in Jesus “father of all believers”, and to bring the whole human family into a brotherly and sisterly relationship.
Pasquale Foresi
Problematica d’oggi nella Chiesa
Città nuova, Roma 1970, pp. 95-96