5th Sunday of Lent - Second Reading - Philippians 3:8–14 - I forfeit all in order to find my wealth in Christ.

1. I forfeit all in order to
find my wealth in
Christ.
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2. 8 More than that, I even consider
everything as a loss because of the
supreme good of knowing Christ
Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
accepted the loss of all things and I
consider them so much rubbish, that I
may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having any
righteousness of my own based on
the law but that which comes through
faith in Christ, the righteousness from
God, depending on faith
10 to know him and the power of his
resurrection and (the) sharing of his
sufferings by being conformed to his
death,

11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection
from the dead.
12 It is not that I have already taken hold of
it or have already attained perfect
maturity, but I continue my pursuit in
hope that I may possess it, since I have
indeed been taken possession of by
Christ (Jesus).
13 Brothers, I for my part do not consider
myself to have taken possession. Just
one thing: forgetting what lies behind
but straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in
Christ Jesus.

3. Paul is considering his past
life and he views it as
worthless compared to
knowing Christ.
He recognized that a
person’s relationship with
Christ is more important
than anything else.
The closer we are to Christ the more
you consistently model his
behaviors of love, patience, charity
and mercy.
Paul had given up everything in order
to follow and bring others to Christ.
When you consider Paul’s efforts to
spread the word of God they were
monumental in human terms.
People tried to kill him, he was
beaten, imprisoned and eventually
beheaded, yet all these earthly
sufferings were nothing compared
to what Paul believed awaited him
in heaven.
Do you recall how you felt when you
fell in love?

4. You did your best to spend as
much time as you could
with the one that you loved.
The person was constantly on
your mind, you became
infatuated and eventually
fell in to a long lasting love
so intense that you were
willing to give up your life
for that person.
Sounds like the love that
Christ has for us doesn’t it?
Sounds like the relationship
Paul is seeking with Christ
doesn’t it?