Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time—Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20

Do you want to know a secret? I do not mean seven secrets to weight loss, or five secrets of the ultra-rich, but a real and true secret of eternal value? Because that is exactly what Saint Paul offers us in this, our final second reading from his Letter to the Philippians.

Before we get to the secret, which comes in the form of one of the most popular memory verses in the whole Bible, Saint Paul shows us what this secret can do for us. Thanks for this one secret, he can live in humble circumstances or in abundance, be well fed and hungry, live in abundance or in need. I can almost hear him promising the secret to living with social distancing and with close personal contact, in times of political peace (does that really exist?) or in a heated election year, in a roaring economy and in a recession.

So what is the big secret? What is the key to this supernatural joy and contentment? How can a person possibly thrive in such varying and situations? “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Phrased differently, there is nothing we cannot do with Jesus Christ!

I do not think the Spirit is saying that with Jesus we can do whatever we set our minds to and God will just give us whatever we need for the task. The “all things” that Saint Paul says he can do is all the things he mentioned before: finding peace and contentment with a lot or a little. When you know Jesus intimately, you begin to trust that he is working everything for your good. If something is uncomfortable, it is still being worked for your good. It is an invitation to trust Jesus more and to look for what he is up to. He promises to provide fully for your every need, not your every want.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and not “give us this day bread for the next month.” He promises us security but not in our shortsighted, time-bound sense of security. He promises to fully supply for our every need, and what we truly need is him. Jesus is the secret! As Saint Pope John Paul II said, “It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness.” And you can do “all these things” through him.