Ultimate Collaboration

Fr. Lou offers a reflection on Palm Sunday Scripture and life lived for the “we” instead of the “me.”

In my 24 years here at Mt. Irenaeus the word “collaboration” has always been part of discussions, and, more importantly, part of the life lived here. That is probably the reason why the second Scripture reading for Mass on Palm Sunday (Philippians 2:6-11) has become so central for me. 

“Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The collaborative model of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is now shared with us through Jesus. That is the model of love. Jesus shares with us all the many hard things we suffer: rejection, false accusation, indifference, abuse, and death. But He went beyond all that on Easter when He rose from the dead and changed everything because death was no longer final.

When you take the word “me” and turn it upside down, you get the word “we.” This is not just a new word but a whole new way of being, a very collaborative way of living. My journey in life has been moving from the “me” to the “we,” back into the heart of God, the heart of the world, and the heart of people.

One of the many great sayings of the AA movement is, “I may not be much, but I’m all I ever talk about.” This sounds like a perfect motto for an increasingly individualistic culture. But what a trap that becomes. The author of the Letter to the Philippians shows us the way out of that trap: “Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though in the form of God ...”