Fr. Nnamdi Moneme: Are We Cultivating the Mind of Christ?

Talk about bearing fruit in adverse conditions! St. Paul writes this beautiful letter of thanksgiving and encouragement to the Christians of Philippi from his prison cell in Rome. He exhorts them to “have this mind among them which was in Christ Jesus.” He meant the mindset by which Jesus bore the fruit of our salvation on the painful cross by “emptying Himself, taking the form of a slave, humbling Himself and being obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Because Christ bore fruit on the cross, they too will bear fruit in all conditions of life only if they cultivated this mind of Christ.  

St. Paul also gave them the steps to cultivate this mind of Christ.

The first step is a trusting prayer, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” In and through this prayer dialogue with Jesus, they are also to be open to receive the thoughts of Christ and think His thoughts, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and gracious…, think about these things.”  ….