Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
November 3, 2020
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Philippians 2:5-11
Here in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is one of the Church’s oldest and richest Christ-hymns. St. Paul has been urging the faith community to be grounded in humility.
This ancient song of Christ demonstrates precisely what it means to be Christ-like. Although Jesus is “in the form of God,” he “did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.” Jesus didn’t come into the world for himself, but for us. He humbled himself, taking the “form of a slave” and even dying on the cross. Indeed because of this scandalous and shameful death “every knee should bend…every tongue confess “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
This stands in stark contrast with the normal way of doing things. Paul uses the title “Lord” purposefully. It’s a title for the emperor. Unlike the Roman emperor, Christ’s throne is a cross and his victory is in service, not domination.
What a powerful message: the strength of the cross transforms the world. It turns everything upside down. Humility and service are the principles of Christ’s reign and of our Church.