Monday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Philippians 2:1-4

In today’s reading, Paul makes an eloquent appeal for unity among the Christians of Philippi. As he writes from prison, the encouragement and comfort he wishes most from them is that they:

…be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

As will become clear in later readings, the Philippians, like many of the churches to which Paul wrote, had their own internal problems which were a source of sometimes deep division.

He proposes four motivating forces which might help them to resolve their differences:

1. Their life in Christ: the over-riding element in all Christian living is our warm, intimate, personal relationship with Christ. If this is really the guiding factor in our living together, there will not be much room for serious divisions.
2. Love (agape): for Christians, love is, of course, the very central force in all our behaviour with each other. It is, first of all, the love that God has shown us in Christ, especially by his suffering and dying for us on the cross. Secondly, it is the law which embraces all other laws. It is the criterion by which we judge all words and actions. And where there is genuine love between brothers and sisters in the community, there cannot be any serious divisions.
3. The Spirit we have in common: that Spirit is God communicating to us the Gospel message we have received from Christ, and uniting us together in a true fellowship. If we are all filled with that same Spirit, then we are going to speak and act in real harmony with each other, driven as we are by a common vision.
4. Tenderness and sympathy: this expresses the deep care and concern that we have for each other. It is this encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness and compassion which will dissipate any disunity and discord in the community.

If their community life can be guided by these qualities, then, says Paul, they can:

… be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

This is not so much a plea for total uniformity, but rather the ability to work together towards a common goal in a spirit of tolerance and acceptance of each other.

Paul in general is very pleased with the church at Philippi, but if it could realise the unity he is urging on them, that would make him completely happy. The implication is that complete unity has not yet been achieved; that there are some divisions among them.

As a step towards that unity he gives some advice. They should be free of a competitive spirit, where different groups claim to have the truth, and self-centred conceit (‘all out of step except me’). Such ambition or self-centredness is destructive of real unity in the community. And alas, such competitiveness and conceit is not at all unknown in our own churches today.

On the contrary, the Philippians are to:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit…

That is, they are to be free from arrogance and self-centredness and focused more on the needs of their brothers and sisters.

They are to:

…in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.

That does not mean denying one’s gifts and talents, but it does mean that the love that each one has for others leads them to giving preference to the needs of others. They are to have the attitude that my gifts are not to be focused on myself, but rather are to be used for the benefit of others—just as others will use their gifts for my benefit. In this way, we all gain by reaching out to each other.

All of what Paul says can be applied to our Church living today. We, too, need to be more united, more tolerant and more accepting. We, too, need to be filled with those four elements which will make any real disunity and division—as opposed to acceptable diversity and pluralism—impossible among us.

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Monday of Week 31 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 14:12-14

After giving the scribes and Pharisees advice on how (not) to choose a place at a banquet, Jesus goes on to teach his host what to do when he holds a dinner. He should not invite family members, relatives, friends and the influential rich from whom he can expect to get similar invitations in return.

Rather he should go out of his way to:

…invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind…you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

This will be a proof of the genuineness of his generosity. Sharing meals with friends is a lovely thing, but Jesus is making the point that our mutual entertainment should not be at the expense of those who do not have enough to eat. It will be a real act of love, and not be a form of self-seeking and self-aggrandisement or mutual back scratching in a never-ending entertainment circus.

It reminds us of what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount about loving those who love us:

Do not even the gentiles do the same? (Matt 5:47)

There is no real virtue in this. In fact, it can be a way of using people to our own advantage. It also reminds us of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. In such circumstances, uncaring self-indulgence can in no way be justified.

We might remark here, of course, that there is no such thing as pure altruism, that is, an action that is done purely for others with absolutely nothing for self. Everything we do, we do ultimately for ourselves. We have no choice but to seek our own good—to act otherwise would be quite silly and even wrong. It all depends on how and why we do it.

A person can seek self by using, manipulating, and exploiting others for one’s own gain. But a person can use all their energies for the good of others, and in doing so, there is a feeling of satisfaction in doing the right thing. Even one’s life can be sacrificed as the only way of satisfying self. For instance, a mother may not hesitate to sacrifice her life to save a child in danger. Not to do so would lead to a situation she might find difficult to live with for the rest of her life.

We do have to seek our own interests. We can do that at the expense of others, or we can realise that it is by sharing what we have with others in need that we become enriched in a very special way.

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