Loss and Gain in the Light of Christ

Homily for Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

The passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians that we proclaim today is one of St. Paul’s strongest arguments. Seriously, those who framed the Lectionary for Daily Mass leave out the very first verse of this argument. I suspect that it is omitted because of the strong language that St. Paul uses. He begins his argument with these words: “Beware the dogs! Beware the evildoers! Beware of the mutilation!”

These three admonitions signal the reason for the language that is going to follow them. As I have said before, St. Paul’s preaching was frequently challenged by several different groups who would appear in the Christian communities shortly after Paul had moved on to another. Word has reached St. Paul that it has happened again in Philippi. Because St. Paul did not expect the Gentile converts to become Jewish before they were baptized, this passage focuses on the issue of circumcision, the rite through which male children became children of Israel.

Having been challenged once again by the Judaizers, St. Paul writes to the Philippians, “We are the circumcision.” He follows this statement with some biographical information. He was himself Hebrew by race, was possessed of a Jewish mother and a Jewish father, circumcised on the eighth day of his life as was the law prescribed in the book of Genesis, of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Pharisee who was deemed upright and righteous in the eyes of the Law.

Despite his impressive pedigree, he goes on to say that he considers all of this loss because of Jesus Christ’s intervention in his life. A little later, he will refer to his pedigree as rubbish when compared to the knowledge that he has received through his relationship to Jesus.

When we read this proclamation, I cannot help but think of the material wealth or the possessions that most of us have come to regard as worthwhile. I’m sure that all of us have, at one time or another, heard others boasting of their accomplishments or their acquisitions. Even those of us who have committed ourselves to a life of Gospel simplicity can fall into the trap of regarding our possessions as important. Consequently, as we listen to St. Paul today, we are reminded that our true wealth lies in our relationship with Jesus. This is the only thing of value that we can claim. This is our inheritance. This is the legacy of our faith. With St. Paul we have come to see the material wealth of our world has so much rubbish.