Humility and One Downsmanship

Brothers and sisters:
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, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others.

St. Paul writing to the Philippians tells us two things.  He says it would complete his joy if we were of the same mind, same love, united in heart, and thinking one thing.  Luther and the reformers must not have read this passage when they went their own way and formed their own churches, each based on their own interpretation of the scripture.  Unlike the Catholic Church, their interpretation was a moving target which changed as frequently as the reformer changed his mind on things. They had abandoned sound reasoning and went with what felt good according to their own predilections. So these reformers traded gold for pot metal and truth for lies and they committed the sin of schism.  As they went against the call of Jesus for them to be one as He and the Father were one and against Paul's plea for unity in the present reading.  It is interesting to note that the sine of schism is not passed down to today's believers in other creeds that through no fault of their own worship God in the manner they were taught by family traditions.  They are sons and daughters of God as we Catholics are, but they are impoverished because they lack the full truth that the Catholic Church carries forward throughout the centuries untarnished by time and complete in its majestic beauty. 

We are also told by Paul to be humble and think of others as more important as than ourselves. Is he mad?  When he wrote this he had no idea of how life would be in twenty-first century America so we can discount this call to humility and make sure we make our mark in the world and get everything we are entitled to or more if possible.  

Ahh, I don't think so, Joe.   

Paul's world was very much the same as ours.  People were always pushing and shoving and clawing their way up in society and if someone got in the way, well that is just too bad.  Pauls call was for each of his Philippian converts to really claim the humility of Christ, who was the Son of God, and make this their own. Next what follows is what some say was a hymn, but it summarizes the need for humility so beautifully that I will end my poor attempt at an explanation here and allow the beauty of the scriptures sing for us! 

Have in you the same attitude

that is also in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name

which is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

The poor souls in Purgatory thank those that pray for them. They cannot pray for themselves, the time for making up for the temporal effects of our sins is here on earth.  Won't you please pray for the poor souls today.  Invest your time in them and they will be thankful forever.