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From: Philippians 2:1-4

Unity and Humility

[1] So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any partici-
pation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of
the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3]
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than
yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the
interests of others.

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Commentary:

1-4. Verse 1 begins with a very awkwardly constructed clause, which the New
Vulgate and the RSV translate literally. It is a conditional, rhetorical clause,
rather than an affirmative statement, and its meaning is clarified by the rest of
the sentence.

St Paul is making an affectionate appeal to the Christian good sense of the faith-
ful; he seems to be saying: “If you want to console me in Christ, complete my
joy by paying attention to the advice I am now going to give you” (cf. St Thomas
Aquinas, “Commentary on Phil, ad loc.”).

The Apostle recommends that they should always act humbly and with an upright
intention (vv. 3-4) if they want charity to reign among them (v. 2). In their work and
social life ordinary Christians should be upright in all their dealings. They should
go about everything, even apparently unimportant things, in a humble way, doing
them for God. But they should also remember that their behavior has an effect on
others. “Don’t forget that you are also in the presence of men, and that they ex-
pect from you, from you personally, a Christian witness. Thus, as regards the
human dimension of our job, we must work in such a way that we will not feel a-
shamed when those who know us and love us see us at our work, nor give them
cause to feel embarrassed” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 66).

This fact that our behavior can encourage others and set a headline for them
means that we need to act very responsibly: “Let us try therefore, brethren,” St
Augustine says, “not only to be good but to conduct ourselves well in the eyes
of others. Let us try to see that there is nothing that our conscience upbraids us
for, and also, bearing in mind our weakness, do all that we can, to avoid disedi-
fying our less mature brother” (”Sermon 47”, 14).

3-11. Verse 3 exhorts us to see others as better than ourselves. Our Lord, al-
though he was our superior in all respects, did not see his divinity as something
to boast about before men (v. 6). In fact, he humbled himself and emptied himself
(vv. 7-8), was not motivated by conceit or selfishness (cf. v. 3), did not look to his
own interests (cf. v. 4), and “became obedient unto death” (v. 8), thereby carrying
out the Father’s plan for man’s salvation. By reflecting on his example we shall
come to see that suffering for Christ is a sign of salvation (cf. 1:28-29): after under-
going the sufferings of his passion and death, Christ was publicly exalted above
all creation (cf. vv. 9-11).

Our Lord offers us a perfect example of humility. “The coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Scepter of God’s Majesty, was in no pomp of pride and haughtiness—
as it could so well have been—but in self-abasement [...]. You see, dear friends,
what an example we have been given. If the Lord humbled himself in this way,
what ought we to do, who through him have come under the yoke of his gui-
dance?” (St Clement of Rome, “Letter to the Corinthians”, 13).

3-4. “’In every man,’ writes St Thomas Aquinas, ‘there are some grounds for
others to look on him as superior, according to the Apostle’s words, “Each of
us must have the humility to think others better men than himself” (Phil 2:3). It
is in this spirit that all men are bound to honor one another’ (”Summa Theologiae”,
II-II, q. 103, a. 2). Humility is the virtue that teaches us that signs of respect for
others—their good name, their good faith, their privacy—are not external conven-
tions, but the first expressions of charity and justice.

“Christian charity cannot confine itself to giving things or money to the needy. It
seeks, above all, to respect and understand each person for what he is, in his
intrinsic dignity as a man and child of God” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing
By”, 72).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.