Altruistic, Unselfish, Humble Giving

In today’s first reading, Philippians 2: 1-4, St. Paul urges us to complete his joy—anyone’s joy—by “being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing,” he states, “out of selfishness or out of vain glory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his [or her] own interests, but also everyone for those of others.” In the Gospel, Luke 14: 12-14, Jesus challenges us to invite the crippled, the lame, the poor, and the blind to a meal rather than friends and family and relatives, who would be able to pay us back. In other words, love others, not out of our own interests but out of the interests of others. How difficult these challenges can be. By nature, we look for a return now, here on earth!  It is difficult to do something purely out of altruistic attitudes. Our ego wants a reward now. We have a difficult time delaying the reward until we enter eternal life, or in Jesus’ words, until “the resurrection of the righteous.”

Lord, help us grow in doing for others for their sake and not for a reward from them or that they reciprocate our generosity.  May we have the courage to reach out to those who are unable, for whatever reason, to return the favor! And may our craving for that kind of attention decrease, as we seek to please You and win Your approval in secret and in humility!

Becoming of One Heart and Mind and Will

“Brothers and sisters,” St. Paul says to ‘his flock’: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but…for those of others.”

Imagine a husband and a wife adhering to this challenge, “being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing,” the good of each other, the well being of their children, raising the children in the faith, modeling the Gospel messages of Jesus for their children. Imagine, too, a husband and a wife doing “nothing out of selfishness,…humbly [regarding the other] as more important than…[oneself] (I would say “as important as oneself),  each looking out not for his [or her] own interest, but…for those of…[the other and the children].  And, again, I would say, “looking out for the other’s interest, as well as one’s own, and putting forth efforts to meet one’s own needs as well as that of the other. I say that because it is easy to play the “martyr’s role,”  always putting the other’s needs before one’s own, neglecting oneself, and eventually resenting the other. It is a delicate balance and important, I believe, to realize that one’s own authentic needs are as important as the needs of the other person.

Something, definitely to think about as husband/wife, mother/father.

As a member of a religious community, the same applies. How unselfish am I? To what extent do I look to the interest of others, take time to listen, dialogue, be open to the opinion of others and express my own, to seek common ground so as to come to a point of “ being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing,” in this case following the Spirit’s lead in regard to ministry and the building up of community life?