Thursday in the 31st Week of Ordinary Time, November 3, 2022

Philippians 3, 3-8

Brothers and sisters: We are the circumcision, we who worship through the Spirit of God, who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh, although I myself have grounds for confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the Church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless. But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

St. Paul addresses the issue of whether the Gentiles can be saved, in writing to Philippians, and if being a Jew provides an advantage in being saved.  This constituted the first great crisis of the Church.  It has a faint echo today in the question of whether anyone who is not baptized can be saved.  In going through the question, Paul tells us that he has explained this to them before, but does not mind doing it again: “To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not wearisome, but to you is necessary” (Philippians 3, 1).  He then warns them to beware of those who would try to convince them that they needed to be circumcised: “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evil-workers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh” (Philippians 3, 2).  He calls those “who mutilate the flesh” “evil-workers” and “dogs”.  This is interesting because the Jewish Christians would have called the Gentiles “dogs” before the descent of the Holy Spirit led to the first Gentiles accepting the Faith.  Here Paul calls these Jews “dogs”.  He says of himself and his co-workers that they are “the circumcision”, that is, they are of the true circumcision — most importantly circumcised in spirit but also physically, making them Jews.  If they, therefore, “worship through the Spirit of God”, how much more so should the Gentiles.  Paul states that he does not put his confidence “in the flesh”, that is, in his being circumcised physically because he is spiritually reborn in baptism.  Still, he is related to Christ in the flesh in that both he and Jesus were Jews.  This kinship too might be reason for confidence.  In order to explain himself, Paul then goes on to tell us some interesting facts about himself that we would not know otherwise: that he was of the tribe of Benjamin, that both his parents were Jews, and that he was a Pharisee.  The latter we could suppose from his behavior early in the Acts of the Apostles, but here he himself confirms it.  He shows that he took pride in his righteousness before the Law, but he weighs the Law with the love of Jesus Christ and finds that there is no comparison: “But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.”  That is, whatever advantage he thought he had in doing the will of God according to the Law was worthless before the Lord Jesus.  Paul became a Christian because of Jesus.  First came love, then came faith.  

“More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”  In order to know Jesus and to serve him, Paul gave up his life: his future as a bright star among the Pharisaic rabbis such as Gamaliel, the esteem of his fellow Pharisees, whatever property he owned, and the prospect of marriage and children.”  There was nothing in his life Paul would not give up to be nearer to Jesus.  His Letter to the Philippians is a very personal one and at times sounds like Paul thinking to himself of his life with Christ.  At these times, the Philippians are reduced from the recipients of his letter to eavesdroppers on Paul’s most private thoughts.  We benefit from these moments as did the Philippians in hearing how much a saint loves Jesus.