1 From Paul and Timothy, ser vants of Christ Jesus, to the saints in Philippi, with their bishops and deacons;
to you all in Christ Jesus:
2 May grace and peace be yours from God, our Father, and Christ Jesus the Lord.
3 I give thanks to my God each time I remember you,
4 and when I pray for you, I pray with joy.
5 I cannot forget all you shared with me in the service of the Gospel, from the first day until now.
6 Since God be gan such a good work in you, I am certain that he will complete it in the day of Christ Jesus.
7 This is my hope for you, for I carry you all in my heart: whether I am in prison or defending and confirming the Gospel, you are with me and share the same grace.
8 God knows that I love you dearly with the love of Christ Jesus,
9 and in my prayers I ask that your love may lead you each day to a deeper knowledge and clearer discernment,
10 that you may have good criteria for every thing. So you may be pure of heart and come blameless to the day of Christ,
11 filled with the fruit of holiness that comes through Christ Jesus, for the glory and praise of God.
Christ is my life
12 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has hap pened to me has served to advance the Gospel.
13 Actually the whole praetorian guard, and even those outside the palace, know that I am in chains for Christ.
14 And what is more, my condition as prisoner has encouraged most of our brothers who are now emboldened to proclaim the Word of God more openly and without fear.
15 Some, it is true, are moved by envy and rivalry, but others preach Christ with a good intention.
16 These latter are moved by love and realize that I am here to defend the Gospel.
17 The others announce Christ to challenge me. They do not act with a pure intention but think they are making my prison more unbearable.
18 But in any case, whether they are sincere or showing off, Christ is proclaimed and because of this I rejoice and have no regrets.
19 I know that all this will be a grace for me be cause of your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Christ.
20 I am hopeful, even certain, that I shall not be ashamed. I feel as assured now, as before, that Christ will be exalted through my person, whether I live or die.
21 For to me, living is Christ, and dying is gain.
22 But if I am to go on living, I shall be able to enjoy fruitful labor. Which shall I choose?
23 So I feel torn between the two. I desire greatly to leave this life and to be with Christ, which will be better by far,
24 but it is necessary for you that I remain in this life.
25 And because I am convinced of this, I know that I will stay and remain with you for your progress and happiness in the faith.
26 I will surely come to you again, and give you more reason for being proud of belonging to Christ Jesus.
Stand firm in faith
27 Try, then, to adjust your lives according to the Gospel of Christ. May I see it when I come to you, and if I cannot come, may I at least hear that you stand firm in the same spirit, striving to up hold the faith of the Gospel with one heart.
28 Do not be afraid of your opponents. This will be a sign that they are defeated and you are saved, that is saved by God.
29 For through Christ you have been granted not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him.
30 And you now share the same struggle that you saw I had and that I continue to have, as you know.
------------------------------------------------------------
Comments Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 1
• 1.1 With their bishops and deacons. In Acts we saw how the apostles used to establish a community, a church, in every city where they proclaimed the Gospel. They did not leave without having established a council of leaders, called presbyters, or elders, according to Je wish custom. After a few years bishops, or su per visors, stood out: they may have been the leading members of the council of presbyters. They were not then like today’s bishops.
As to the deacons, they were in charge of various services in the community. And may have done missionary work in areas that did not yet have a com munity.
God began such a good work in you, I am certain that he will complete it in the day of Christ Jesus (v. 6). The end for which they long is always the manifestation (2 Thes 1:7), or the visit, or the Day of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 1:8). No work is done without the expectation of the day when there will be all that one dreamed about. There is no Christian life where someone is content with looking forward to his retirement or feels fulfilled because he has a country house or because the family is growing up without a problem. Let us stop saying these first Christians still had the “illusion” of an early return of Christ. They wanted to meet him personally and be transfigured by him. That is an illusion only for those who enclose themselves in oases of peace within a world in crisis.
Knowledge and discernment… A good heart and generosity are not everything in Christian life. We are not saved, we do not reach our true stature, we are not remade as God would like us to be, unless clarity has guided generosity. It is the same for world salvation. God calls us to discover new ways. We need to reflect, to be attentive, what we could call “revision of life,” in order to discover what is positive and negative in our daily life, work relationships, social duties, leisure. This reflection, however, is not sufficient: among God’s gifts, there is spiritual knowledge that gives us a fresh vision of the order of values and of the will of God.
• 12. Paul is not only persecuted by the Jews: even in the Church “false brothers,” delighted he is in prison, see in this situation the possibility of increasing their own importance. The problem is one for all times: the great names of the apostolate have spent half of their energy in limiting the harm caused by rivals or by powerful groups in the Church. Paul, however, is gifted with wisdom: he sees that even if many do for personal interest what they believe they are doing for God, he knows how to turn it to account.
I am hopeful, even certain, that I shall not be ashamed (v. 20). Paul’s concern is that his trial and his appearances should serve to reveal Christ’s message to the authorities.
Christ is my life. It is quite trendy to say that Christians should “understand the world” and be “fully human.” This is true in a certain way, but it does not say everything. God’s love increases in us through the gift of ourselves to persons and to tasks that he entrusts to us, but as the love of God grows, the desire of Christ and eternity takes root with it: this desire makes us like strangers in the world.
Paul would like to see his friends but not for that will he linger over fraternal meals in which his friends would try to provide him with a warm atmosphere. His deep desire is for what he still lacks: to meet Christ in his glory (see 2 Cor 4:16 and Phil 3:10).
I desire greatly to leave this life and to be with Christ (v. 23). Thus, those who say that a person ceases to exist at the time of death and only recovers life in the resurrection at the end of times are wrong. See 2 Cor 5:8 also.
• 27. See how throughout this paragraph Paul invites the Philippians to fully share his own struggle: he is in prison, but they must remain in the front line of the battle. What does he expect? First that their community be a true one (v. 27). Unity is a decisive sign for those who see us from the outside. Uphold the faith of the Gospel with one heart. Whether there be a persecution or not, people from the outside will try to divide us.