Monday of the
Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
(Philippians 2:1-4; Luke 14:12-14)
Most of us find ourselves competing with others. We resent when a peer receives attention, and
we are ignored. We become envious when
he is promoted and we are left behind.
We begin to calculate in our minds how we are as good, maybe better than
the one others admire. In today’s first
reading Paul beseeches the Philippians not to engage in such unproductive
thoughts.
Paul has a special affection for the Philippians. According to Acts, it is the first community
he evangelized after crossing over from Asia to Europe. In this letter he will share with them personal
ambitions and intimate thoughts. At its
beginning, however, he exhorts unity within the community. They are to do
nothing out of selfishness but to judge everyone as better than themselves.
It seems that a distorted sense of self-worth often causes
our mentally competing with others. We need
to recognize that our basic dignity comes from being created in God’s image and
knowing Jesus Christ. More than anything
we can do, this gives us importance. How
others judge us in the end makes little difference. As God’s servant and Jesus’ friend, we should
strive to serve one another, not to better them.
