Mass Readings Reflection (Nov 8, 2024)

Philippians 3:17 - 4:1

In the very first verse of the first reading of Mass today there is a line that becomes an overarching theme of much of the Christian spiritual life. To many, this is because it is an overarching theme to much of human behavior whose roots can be traced even before the birth of Christ himself. In Philippians 3:17, St. Paul instructs his hearers to, “Join with others in being imitators of me…according to the model you have in us.” 

There are two interesting concepts I want to highlight in this verse that have implications for the Christian life. 

"imitators"

The first is the word “imitators.” The word comes from the Latin imitatio, but more importantly here from the Greek word mimesis. This concept pre-dates Christianity but has found a new appreciation from the recently deceased Catholic scholar Rene Girard. 

It is first  found in Aristotle’s Poetics, where he describes mimesis as the basis of art. This refers to the way that “art imitates life,” as the expression goes, as well as how artists imitate each other, helping the craft move forward and develop. An artist is trying to imitate, even in the surrealist and abstract examples, some element of reality even if it is done so in an exaggerated way. Artists will follow in the footsteps of a previous master but with their own unique wrinkles. To the degree the perennial truths of beauty can be found in them however will show their own mastery. 

Rene Girard came to his realization about mimesis through his study of literature. He found that the great novels reflected the reality that desire was mimetic, that it was based on imitation. We not only produce things in imitation, but in an even more fundamental way our very desires are conditioned by them. When we realize this truth about this deepest part of ourselves, we can begin to live more fully integrated lives. 

"model"

This brings us to St. Paul’s second important point. He only means to highlight himself as worthy of imitation because his model from whom his desires and actions are an imitatio is Jesus. When we realize that it is not a question of if we will have models, but who they will be, we can discern them more wisely. 

This is what St. Paul is exhorting us to do. It is important which master the artist chooses to follow, whose technique will be the model. St. Paul sees this same importance in his own verse, which is why he is quick to point out that Jesus is his model. As Catholics, we not only have Christ as the principle model for our own spiritual lives, but the many permutations of Christ’s mystical bodily presence in the world in his Saints. When we imitate these models, not just in our actions but in our very desires, we will imitate Christ more closely than we ever thought possible in this life.