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.