Rejoice in the Lord always

On Friday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to first read and reflect on a passage from the letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians (3: 17—4: 9) entitled  "Rejoice in the Lord always". Our treasure, which follows, is from a treatise on the letter to the Philippians by Saint Ambrose, bishop. Saint Ambrose was a fourth century, theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan, Italy. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, firstly promoting Roman Christianity against Arianism and paganism. Saint Ambrose is a Doctor of the Church. He is celebrated for his scholarship, service to the unfortunate, oratory skills, leadership of the people, and defense of the Church.  As a Greek scholar Saint Ambrose interpreted Eastern theologians for the West, a work that was much needed. He wrote extensively on the Bible, theology, and asceticism, and he wrote numerous homilies and psalms. As befitted a bishop, his teaching was more by his sermons than his writings. His discourses were very practical.  Philippians is written to a group of believers with whom Paul founded a church, during his second missionary journey in approximately AD 49. Philippi was a Roman colony, with believers consisting primarily of Gentiles. This letter, written about 12 years after the founding of the Philippian church, is largely a thank you letter to the Philippians. The main message of the Book of Philippians is for the Christian community in Philippi to be steadfast in faith and to express joy. Philippians is recognized as Paul's joyous epistle and is also known as the "friendship letter" because of its tone. However, because Paul wrote this letter during a time of house arrest in Rome, it includes the major theme of rejoicing during suffering.