Philemon

A Homily for the 23rd Sunday in ordinary time

given at St. Patrick's Church

by Rev. Fr. Ronnie P. Floyd, STL

Of all Paul’s Epistles, the little read letter to Philemon, written while Paul was imprisoned in Rome, quickly became one of my favorites in Seminary. That’s probably because it is one of the shortest letters, and thus it was the easiest question to get on the exams. I was lucky because when I took my exam on Pauline letters. I did in fact get this Epistle as the one I had to talk about for eight minutes.

The letter is a personal letter, unlike most of Paul’s other letters in Sacred Scriptures. It is written to a man named Philemon about his runaway slave, Onesemus, who ran off to follow Paul and who Paul is sending back now to his life of slavery. One of the reasons I like this letter is that it startles our modern sensibilities!

When we hear the word slavery we think of racism, cruelty, dehumanization, and injustice. Of course the first thing we must realize is that slavery in the ancient world was much different from slavery in the 1800s. It wasn’t primarily based on race but was primarily a political and economic arrangement. This isn’t to say that it was a good thing, but that maybe it wasn’t as bad as we imagine today. In reality, in many places slavery was much the same as employment at a big company prior to the 1980s

It was a lifelong relationship between employer and employee that demanded some sacrifices, that was often one sided, but that also promised stability and job security. In these days of lay-offs, constant company hopping, and employment anxiety I can imagine many wish for the good old days when a companies and workers felt responsible for each other. When you got a job and you only left when you retired.

Anyway like all human systems, slavery in the ancient world was a structure not always good, but often contained good elements. It’s to this type of slavery the Paul returns Onesemus and his reason is interesting! Paul trusts that no matter the situation one finds oneself in, there is always the possibility for good to come out of it, if only we trust in God. This is particularly interesting because Paul himself is imprisoned awaiting his execution in Rome.

Paul is not preaching a form of pious quietism, He is not saying that we should not speak out about injustice but he is pointing to the fact that in speaking out and working for justice our primary concern ought always to be spiritual salvation. Onesemus may have been at some level justified in running away but Paul worries that Onesemus’ escape might adversely effect the faith of his master Philemon, a fledgling Christian himself who now might feel wronged by the loss of Onesemus.’

Paul uses a beautiful play on words in the original Greek saying that Onesemus as a slave was before useless to Philemon, This is striking because slaves are meant to be useful to their masters, but Paul is suggesting that what is really important is our soul, and so whatever work Onesemus once did for Philemon, did not help him obtain eternal life. Now sending Onesemus back to slavery, Paul sends him back in charity, urging Philemon to receive him not just as a slave, but also as a brother, so that Onesemus might be useful to Philemon’s salvation. Paul also realizes that Onesemus’ physical freedom, is less important than his spiritual freedom, which He gained from Christ in Baptism, and now is exercising by embracing his Cross

I love this story because when we really start to think about it it really challenges the way we live.

How often do we fight for the things of the world, forgetting about our souls? How often do we assert our rights, with no consideration of how our use of rights affects others. We receive rights from God, not so that we can do whatever we want, but so that we can accomplish our purpose in life, our vocation from God, and our duty to our brothers and sisters.

Being a Catholic means becoming like Christ who gave up everything to God for us, for our salvation. Christ could have claimed rights. He could have decried the injustice of the situation. He could have defended himself. But he didn’t! Scriptures tell us He went to the cross silent like a lamb before the shearer. Jesus died silently because it was God’s will which would save our souls. This is the example we are meant to follow. This is the example Paul is suggesting in the Letter to Philemon.

God’s wisdom is an all knowing wisdom that sees all things as they are. As Catholics, the point of our life of Faith is not to fight to make this a perfect world. It’s too late for that, sin has doomed the world. Our job is to fight to save souls, by surrendering our will to the will of God and seeking to do it at all times!

Each of us have Philemon moments: when we feel unjustly offended by our brothers and sisters, even when perhaps we are at fault. And each of us have Onesemus moments: when we are truly suffering an injustice and we feel like we want to escape, to protect ourselves.

Paul is suggesting that whether we are at fault or not, each of us, in relationship with each other, and destined for eternal life must take responsibility for each other. We must stop being useless to each other by seeking our own best interest but instead always seek the best interest of others. Maybe you are a wife that feels wronged by your husband; Or a brother wronged by a brother; Or a parent wronged by a child, or vice versa; Or a friend wronged by a friend, or a stranger, or an enemy. The reality is that we all sin, and that we all hurt each other, so long as we are looking out for the RIGHTS of #1. There is no justice under the law because we are all sinners, we have all contributed to the cycle of violence that is sin, instead there is only mercy and forgiveness, which starts when we consider the good of the other before our own good, our own pride, our own injury. This is what true love means, and requires!