Bible Verses No. 2

2. Philippians 1:1-11

Philippians 1

¹Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers^a]">[a] and deacons:

²Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

⁷It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. ⁸God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, ¹¹filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

This is more of a sentimental than theological favorite of mine. It is a beautiful blessing given by Paul to his beloved brothers that epitomizes how the words of the Epistles spoke to the budding early Christian communities as well as the persistently-pilgrim Church of the future, which includes us.

Here's the story: When I went on Kairos XLIII (43) in November 2006 [wow, I'm old], I received in my envelope of joy a letter from good ol' Father Corey. He offered kind words of affirmation and encouragement, with a PS blessing simply to read this passage as a prayer from him to/for me. I went to my desk, got the Bible, and read it right then. I was delighted and took the words to heart as a very fitting prayer for me at that point in my life, especially in the height of Kairos, and for my continuing faith journey. The night ended with more tears of joy, wonderful letters, and peaceful storytime and sleep. The next morning, I woke up tired but feeling good. Downstairs in the common area, co-rector Kate Schwarz asked me to do a reading for morning prayer, and of course, I said I would (I love lectoring). When we got to the chapel and she handed me the sheet, I was shaken in a positive way to see that it was the very same passage Corey had given to me. It further emboldened my proclamation of the Word and solidified this reading's place in my heart.

I love the way this passage links the mystical Body of Christ together. We are the Universal Church, and we are always united as Christ's Body by this social tie as well as the conjugal union between all of us and Jesus in the Eucharist.

Paul's plight as a prisoner helps stress how nothing can sever these ties that bind Christians together in Christ. Through faith in Him and the love He inspires, we can remain united. Through our prayer and hope, we remain together even when physically we are apart.

So this passage serves as a widely helpful prayer for us when we are separated from those we love by distance, business, or even death, and it provides for us a way to use Paul's words as a blessing to those we cannot be with in person; just as Corey offered it to me, so I offer it to all of you:

I thank God whenever I remember you.
I long to be with you in the love of Christ.
I pray that you may grow in Him until you meet Him for all time.