26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Philippians 2:1-11)

            “Humility does not mean a submissiveness, a passiveness, a willingness to be walked on, or a desire to live in the doghouse.  Humility is a virtue by which we recognize ourselves as we are.” Words by Blessed Fulton Sheen.

                Living in a church community requires that we live the virtue of humility. To prayerfully live and work with others requires the exercise of many virtues.  When we exercise these virtues, we grow in holiness.  Sadly, many times people leave church life when they endure disappointment. The virtue of fortitude might have been exercised.

                St. Paul wrote many pastoral letters.  We have a collection of them in the New Testament.  Someone once said that his Letter to the Philippians was his most emotional letter.  Paul wrote letters to church communities to settle points of doctrine.  He also wrote to churches to try to settle quarrels. Wherever we have Church, we have disputes. The disputes can tear the Church apart if those arguing don’t leave pride behind.

                The church in Phillipi was having a problem with warring factions.  Paul was afraid that all the good work that had been done to establish this new church would be undone.  He writes to the people reminding them that their attitude must be Christ’s.

                Arguments in the church have been happening for 2,000 years.  Often, there are petty people in church life who seek only their own agenda.  On the other hand, the reason the church has survived is that there have been a lot of magnanimous people in the history of the church. Magnanimous people are the people who are the ones we remember.

                On Thursday Archbishop Fulton Sheen was beatified in St. Louis. The Diocese of Peoria sponsored his cause.  Why was he special?  We might have an opinion. Last Monday I presided at the funeral for Sr. Catherine Cleary, OSB.  Sister Catherine has been my friend for many years.  Often, she would speak of her first Cousin Archbishop Sheen. Her stories made Sheen a more human figure for me.  He wasn’t just a television star.  He was a man who was related to Sister Catherine.  He would come to her home on the farm to visit, to laugh, to recreate with her big family.

                Another thing that has made Sheen saintlier to me wasn’t his successes but his principles.  At the height of his power, he took a stand that cost him status in the world.  He clashed with the most powerful prelate in the United States in the middle of the 20th century, Cardinal Francis Spellman, Archbishop of New York.  Spellman promoted Fulton Sheen’s ministry for many years.  He expected that Sheen would defer to him on everything.

After WWII, Europe was being rebuilt.  At the same time, missions were growing in small nations throughout the world. Fulton Sheen was collecting millions of dollars as the head of the Propagation of the Faith in the U.S. The money was a lifeline to missions throughout the world.  Cardinal Spellman, on two occasions, ordered Sheen to send him millions of dollars so he could direct it to charities he preferred, including rebuilding Europe. Fulton Sheen took a stand saying that the funds had been donated for mission work, not for aid to Europe.

                Spellman was enraged. He made sure Fulton Sheen had to end his television ministry.  Archbishop Sheen was sent to Rochester, New York as bishop, a ministry. He had little talent for administration, and he left Rochester after two years.  Sheen was humbled. He moved quietly into retirement. He lived the last ten years of his life-giving retreats and talks. He lived by himself in New York City. He never complained publicly about his humiliation. He looked upon his experience as an opportunity to follow Jesus in a more profound way. He practiced the virtue of long suffering.

                We read in the letter of the Philippians an ancient hymn about Jesus. The hymn was sung to praise the humility of Jesus.  The verses point out that Jesus gave up his divinity to enter our humanity.  The verses speak of Jesus emptying himself. Paul uses the Greek verb Ke-noun which refers to taking things out of a container. Each item is taken out of a box, a pot, until the container is completely empty.  Jesus put everything aside, giving up heavenly power, to come to the earth to live among us. He went through the ultimate humiliation, but he did this willingly.

                We are reminded that a requirement of Christian community is that we give ourselves away.  We might have notoriety one day, but we might need to give it up to be faithful to Christ the next day.  Jesus has given us an example of unselfish love.  And that is the love that allows a church community not only to survive, but to thrive.