Reading: Philippians 2.5-11 (oremus bible browser)
Reflection: Today’s reading is mostly a hymn from the earliest days of the church. In this hymn, Jesus lays out for us a different path than the one we see in the Roman culture of his day and the culture of our own day. When we see a movie or read a book often our heroes win the day by their strength, killing the bad guys, and returning everything to rights by some means that usually involves some really awesome explosions. In today’s reading, Paul uses this hymn to call us to a different heroism, the kind that Jesus exemplifies. Jesus walks a path that was not one of heralding his equality with God or forcing the submission of others to his will. Instead, of his own free will, he gave up glory to walk a humble path that lead to his death on the cross, and also lead to his new life. That is the path we are also called to follow, giving up our selves so that others can be raised to that new, abundant life and letting others raise us with their gifts and self-giving love to raise us to that same abundant life.
Prayer: Loving God, show us the path that we must walk today and fill us with the abundant life of Christ Jesus. Amen.
St. Augustine's Chapel 