Today’s second reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Philippians contains one of the most beautiful hymns about Jesus in the scriptures. St Paul begins by telling the Philippians to care for each other; to be united in one heart and to do nothing out of selfishness as Jesus did. He is telling us to have the same attitude as Jesus. For God to work through us, we must accept and imitate the humility of Christ and so be able to demonstrate real concern to those whom we are called to care for rather than for ourselves. When we empty ourselves of our desire for status, or position, or respect, or whatever, then we are like the Christ who humbled Himself. For Christians, therefore, ‘empty’ paradoxically means full! Because as we empty ourselves of our self-interests, we find ourselves filling with the grace of Christ. St Paul encourages us to be like humble Christ, not an easy task because pride is deeply rooted in each of us. It is only through God’s grace that we can conquer that embedded pride, and so become the people that God needs us to be for His Kingdom. Christ is the victor over all things, even over our pride.
…even to assuming the condition of a slave.
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