Philippians 2:1-4; Psalm 130; Luke 14:12-14
Philippians, todays letter, was written from prison, to the gentile population of the town of Philippi. This was the first christian community to be established on the European mainland, in about 50 AD - just a couple of decades approximately since Jesus died and rose to save all of us - during one of St Pauls many voyages.
It is a very upbeat letter, and is to be recommended whenever one is in a time of trial especially in relationships with family or friends. There are many practical suggestions how to behave towards one another. The main theme perhaps, is that each needs to take individual responsibility for their response to each other - if a few behave well, then the community will grow and prosper spiritually. We are to model ourselves on Christ [2:8]. There are also warnings not to allow ourselves to be bullied into un-necessary practices that are not essential to the faith - in their day this was the issue of circumcision which Christians from Jewish roots considered essential, but really is not. Perhaps we can think of issues in our work life, home life, and indeed in the church, where tolerance of another's approach is much more important than insistence upon 'my' way of doing things being the only 'correct' way.
There is no doubt at all that St Paul loved this community and was concerned that it grew and flourished; St Paul would feel the same about you and I.
"A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul" - Psalm 130