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Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Philippians 3:3–8a
Jesus once said:
“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.
But whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
We often think these words are only about martyrdom.
But Saint Paul helps us see something closer to daily life.
He says that everything he once counted as gain, he now counts as loss because of Christ.
That is a strong sentence.
Because we all have things we count as gain.
Education.
Career.
Reputation.
Position.
Success.
Family name.
Money.
Respect.
A good public image.
We build our life around these things.
We protect them.
We are proud of them.
Sometimes we even measure our worth by them.
Paul understood this very well.
From a Jewish point of view, he had an impressive list of credentials.
He belonged to Israel.
He came from the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Israel’s first king.
He was a Pharisee.
He knew the Law.
He was zealous.
He even persecuted the Church, thinking he was defending God.
If Paul had stayed on that path, he could have become a respected religious leader.
But then he met Christ.
And after that, everything changed.
What had looked great before became small.
What had looked like gain became loss.
Not because those things were all evil.
But because Paul had found something greater.
Jesus once compared the kingdom of heaven to a treasure hidden in a field.
A man finds it, goes away with joy, sells everything he has, and buys that field.
Jesus also compared the kingdom to a pearl of great price.
A merchant finds it, sells everything, and buys the pearl.
Paul found that treasure.
Paul found that pearl.
Its name was Jesus Christ.
What did he find in Christ?
He found love.
Christ loved him enough to die for him.
He found mercy.
Christ forgave him, changed him, and sent him.
He found hope.
Death was no longer the end.
Paul knew that Christ had risen, and that life with Him would be greater than anything the human heart can imagine.
He found a new life.
Paul no longer lived from himself.
He could say:
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
For Paul, Christ was not one value among many.
Christ was everything.
Today, Paul asks us a very direct question:
Have I found the treasure whose name is Christ?
When Christ becomes the treasure, everything else finds its proper place.
And what once controlled us can finally be released.
Because the one who loses for Christ does not become empty.
He finds life.
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Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition,
copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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