Phil 2:5-11
Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. And for this God raised him high, and gave him the name which is above all other names; so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
It is the great path of humility that the Lord has taken for us in his descent.
What moved him to leave his glory behind and come to us?
First of all, it is the love for the heavenly Father that Jesus bears witness to. We should experience through him how God really is. It is the great desire of the Heart of Jesus that we may recognise the Father’s great love, so that the Father may be glorified through our lives as Jesus himself glorified the Father. In this way we understand the sense of our existence: To glorify God through our lives.
What does this mean?
We are simply to bear witness before the heavenly church and the whole world to the goodness of our Father. Everybody should hear and recognise how God is, what He does for us and what joy it is to serve Him. Already in paradise this was attacked by the devil, who questioned the goodness of God (cf. Gen 3:1-5). How many of the Lord’s creatures live in confusion about God and cannot comprehend him or his ways of salvation. They do not awaken to their dignity as children of God.
We are called to help people, so that they may see in our witness the spiritual beauty of a life with God.
Certainly God does not need to be glorified, but we simply enter into the reality of existence when we glorify God and we are the recipients!
But then – as the apostle mentions – like Jesus, it is necessary to seek men in all possible ways, “to accommodated oneself to people in all kinds” as St. Paul says (1Cor 9:22), in order to win as many as possible for the kingdom of God. As the scripture says: Men should bow their knees before Jesus in whom the redeeming love of God has been so overwhelming revealed. Every mouth should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
This is a very important indication of the Scriptures and shows something of God’s plan of salvation. If this goal is abandoned, then we neglect the Great Mission of our Church.
Humility is necessary here too, because it means to humbly follow the Lord’s instruction and not to refrain from or change the true proclamation out of fear of mankind or own ideas.
Muslims and Jews, as well as all other people, are called to confess the Lord and bow their knees before Him. They are to receive the gospel from the Church. It is therefore not pride and arrogance when we insist that Jesus is the only Saviour and that the communion of the Church is necessary for salvation, but real humility is to follow the truth! In doing so, we must accept that even in the church itself today this can be regarded as backward and outdated. What an error, as if the Lord had been mistaken!
Let us look over to today´s Gospel (Lk 14:15-24) and hear the sad fact that the invited guests are not allowed to join the meal in the Kingdom of God. They chose differently and each came with a different excuse to refuse the invitation.
Certainly the text is to be interpreted with regard to the Jews and especially those responsible leaders at that time, who did not accept the invitation.
But we can look further when we look at us Catholics. We are invited in a special way, because God has given us the grace to either grow up in his true church or to have found the way to it!
In this way we are made aware of two things:
a) to follow God’s invitation,
b) to make sure – as far as it is possible – that the house will be filled.
But who should believe if faith is not proclaimed? (cf. Rom 10:14-15)
Harpa Dei accompanies the daily scriptural interpretation or spiritual teaching of Br. Elija, their spiritual father. These meditations can be heard on the following website www.en.elijamission.net
