Homily for the 26^th Sunday of Ordinary Time: September 28, 2008

Given by the Most Reverend Stephen E. Blaire at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.

In this Pauline Year, we continue to look to St. Paul for instruction on how to live the gospel, how to live in Christ Jesus. Paul was totally dedicated to Christ and wants all of us, as he wrote to the Philippians, to be of the same mind as Christ and to be fully alive in Christ. When we are baptized we do come to exist in Christ. When Paul speaks about Christ Jesus he means Jesus Christ as He now lives in His resurrection in glory and in His Body on earth which is the Church. As Catholics we must never forget that the bodily existence of Christ in the world is the Church. We live in Christ as members of the Church. We are in union with the resurrected Christ Who is the head of the church. We encounter Christ when we hear his word proclaimed in the gathering of the church. We encounter Christ when we meet Him in the sacraments of the Church, especially in the Eucharist. We encounter Christ when we meet Him in one another. We live in Christ and for Christ. We are the hands, the feet, the voice of Christ in the world. We are the ambassadors of Christ wherever we go and in whatever we do.

Paul gives us in Philippians the characteristics of life in Christ and regards these qualities as necessary in regulating our relationships in the community. Life in Christ is first of all a participation in the Spirit. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to live in Christ and have the mind of Christ. To live in Christ is to walk in the way of love, the greatest of all the virtues. This love is characterized by compassion and mercy. The driving force in our lives is a practical concern for others. We look out for the interests of others as we stand in humility before God.

Paul says: “Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.” The letter to the Philippians then incorporates a hymn of the early church so that we might know what the attitude of Christ within ourselves is to be.

WHO, THOUGH HE WAS IN THE FORM OF GOD, DID NOT REGARD EQUALITY WITH GOD SOMETHING TO BE GRASPED. RATHER, HE EMPTIED HIMSELF, TAKING THE FORM OF A SLAVE, COMING IN HUMAN LIKENESS; AND FOUND HUMAN IN APPEARANCE, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, BECOMING OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS. BECAUSE OF THIS GOD GREATLY EXALTED HIM AND BESTOWED ON HIM THE NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BEND, OF THOSE IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH AND UNDER THE EARTH, AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER.

Last Update September 29, 2008