Word to the Wise
Monday, October 31, 2022 - Monday in the 31th Week in Ordinary Time
[Phil 2:1-4 and Luke 14:12-14]If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, numbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others. [Philippians]
The Christian community at Philippi was founded by St. Paul and was the first Christian community in Europe. He maintained great affection for them and worried about reports of Jewish-Christian preachers who were seeking to impose Mosaic Law as a condition for membership. The words quoted above display a paternal concern and affection, much like any father or grandfather for a large family. But Philippi was not the only community Paul established and he wrote other letters (e.g. 1 and 2 Corinthians) addressing concerns about unity and charity.
My own pastoral experience both in ordinary parochial and campus ministry makes me say a big AMEN to Paul's concerns. We Catholics have our own challenges to unity that arise from personal and political differences. We can be unconscious of how our political beliefs shape the way we express our faith instead of the other way around. And then there are those Catholics who believe that only the Catholicism of the 1950's is genuine and reject the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
The Body of Christ is composed of human persons. We know from our own experience that the parts of our body don't always cooperate with each other for reasons of illness or disability or stress. We can also be inwardly conflicted by competing ideologies or values and appetites. Maintaining unity is a constant challenge. St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians is not only an appeal to that community but an appeal to all of us in whatever Catholic community we find ourselves. AMEN