Philippians 2:1-4 / Luke 14:12-14
One of the ways to motivate people is to entice them with rewards.
Organizations use that strategy, companies use it, society uses it and even the family would use it.
This idea of rewards springs from the fact that we usually ask ourselves before we embark on a task: What is in it for me? What am I going to gain from it?
At the back of our minds, we are already thinking of the possible reward, the kind of returns, the expected gains and the tangible as well as intangible benefits.
Yet all that points to our self-centeredness and our ego, our pride and our desires that are connected to it.
And that is what the 1st reading as well as the gospel is addressing.
St. Paul urged the Philippians that if their life in Christ meant anything to them, then they would be united in heart and mind, and there will be no competition and conceit.
Also nobody will think of his own interests first but everybody will think of other people's interest instead.
In the gospel, Jesus went further against the grain of human behaviour by teaching the way of total giving without even thinking of getting anything in return.
The point is that all we do should be for God and before God. After all whatever we do and whatever we give is not ours but given to us by God in the first place.
So if all that we do is for the glory of God, then we won't be looking for rewards and returns. Then we will truly feel the joy in doing whatever we do and giving in whatever we give because we know we do it for God and before God.