Monday, November 4, 2024

Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, bishop

(Philippians 2:1-4; Luke 14:12-14)

St. Charles Borromeo put some teeth in the conciliar decrees of Trent. He exemplified the reform proposals by adopting a simple lifestyle and carrying out visitations and councils in his archdiocese, that of Milan.  He also promoted clerical education by founding seminaries.

As St. Paul exhorts the Philippians in today’s first reading, Charles showed humility. He not only legislated relief to victims of natural disaster but also rolled up his sleeves to help.  These actions were particularly noticed during the famine of 1570 and the plague of 1576.

Coming from a wealthy family, Charles Borromeo had considerable resources at his disposition.  He used many of them to provide physical care for others.  Whether we have many or few resources, we can follow his examples of hands-on charity.

 

Monday, October 31, 2022

 Monday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

(Philippians 2:1-4; Luke 14:12-14)

A famous moral theologian once admitted that he would never say that his work is perfect.  He just thought it “a little better” than anyone else’s.  The man was joking, of course.  Yet he had his finger on a very common human fault.  People like to consider themselves as better than others, at least those in their own grouping.  This kind of thinking sets up rivalries which readily spill over into animosities and even hatreds.  It is the kind of disposition that St. Paul wants the Philippians to avoid in today’s first reading.

The passage leads into the great Christological hymn of Philippians, renowned for the Greek term kenosis.  The word means emptying and refers to Christ letting go of the fullness of divinity to become human.  Paul is coaxing the community at Philippi to give up any pretensions of rank or class.  He wants everyone to think of himself or herself not as better but, indeed, not as good as every other person. 

Often the antidote to excessive behavior in one direction is to assert the other direction.  This strategy is at the heart of Paul’s admonition.  Of course, we are in some ways better than others and not as good as others in different ways.  Nevertheless, Paul’s hope is that every community member strives to be like Christ.  That is, she or he will give up considerations of superiority and concentrate on loving others.  

Monday, November 5, 2018

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.

Homilette for Monday, November 3, 2008

Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, religious

(Philippians 2:1-4)

“Blessed are the meek,” Jesus’ third beatitude on the mount tells us, “for they shall inherit the earth.” The claim sounds so preposterous that one commentator declares that the land Jesus has in mind is the “new earth,” the kingdom of heaven. No doubt, the commentator is correct. The meek gain God’s kingdom, but at times it seems that they also capture high regard on this earth, corrupted as it is.

Certainly St. Martin de Porres exemplifies a person of humility ascending to renown. He belonged to the Dominican Order which has achieved recognition for scholarship. Yet St. Martin did not leave behind any notable writings but only a legacy of charity. He thought of himself as a poor sinner who needed to perform constant acts of penance. As well as any saint in history, perhaps, Martin lived what St. Paul writes about in today’s first reading: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves...” Interestingly, St. Martin has become the most popular Dominican saint, surpassing in notoriety his holy patron, Dominic Guzman, and his illustrious confrere, Thomas Aquinas.

Most of us cannot hope to duplicate Martin de Porres’ humility, but this doesn’t mean that we should not try to imitate it. We must never fool ourselves with the rationalization that humility, as the proper evaluation of one’s own worth, makes one recognize himself or herself as superior to the common lot. Such fatuous logic will only lead one down a road of perdition. Our aim should not be subservience to others but rather, in line with St. Martin, Christ’s sense of submission to God. As Paul will go on to write, Christ became obedient to God to the extent of suffering death on a cross.