(Twenty-third Sunday of the Year (C): This homily was given on September 4, 2022 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Twenty-third Sunday 2022]
Today’s second reading comes from one of the shortest books of the Bible: the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon. (The entire work consists of only 25 verses.) It concerns a runaway slave named Onesimus, who was owned by a wealthy Christian from the city of Colossae named Philemon. Now one side note here before I go on: Human slavery was an accepted reality in the first century world. It’s repulsive to us (as it should be); but back then (unfortunately) it was an accepted part of the culture.
Now some people will ask: Why didn’t St. Paul and the other New Testament writers speak out more forcefully against slavery? Well, lest we forget, at the time Christians were in no position politically or socially to change any of the laws of Rome. In fact, after the Resurrection of Jesus, it was not long before Christians became outlaws in the empire and part of the luncheon menu for some hungry lions. Furthermore, many of the first Christians (including St. Paul) believed that the second coming of Christ would probably take place within their generation. Consequently, changing laws and social structures was not a big concern. Their advice was for people to make the best of things as they were, since the world would probably end very soon. But it’s interesting: in spite of the fact that slavery was socially accepted, good Christians like Paul did perceive the injustice of it. That's easily discerned from what he says in this letter. In fact, Paul’s whole purpose in writing to Philemon was to get him to treat his runaway slave with mercy and accept him back as a brother in Christ. Some scholars even say that Paul was asking Philemon to set Onesimus free—a very radical request for the time. Listen once again to what Paul says here. After he tells Philemon that he had met Onesimus in prison and converted him to the faith, the apostle writes:
I should have
liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but
voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a
while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave
but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to
you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as
you would me.
Now, if you’re incredibly curious like I am, you come to the end of this letter and you say: “What happened? Did Philemon treat his runaway slave (who probably was also a thief) with mercy? Did he accept Onesimus as a brother in Christ and eventually set him free?” Well guess what. We don't know the answers to any of those questions! But we can certainly speculate on the matter. The thought occurred to me in preparation for this homily: perhaps Philemon wrote back to St. Paul after Onesimus returned. And perhaps Philemon had the attitude about law and morality that many contemporary Americans have. If that was indeed the case, his return letter probably went something like this:
My dear brother Paul, may the
grace and peace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior be with you. I greatly appreciate your correspondence, and
I thank you for sharing your opinions with me.
However, I have made the decision to keep my brother Onesimus in slavery
and to discipline him severely. I know
that you will not agree with me about this, but I am for “choice”, and I have
made the choice to be severe and to enslave him once again. This, of course, is my legal right under the
current laws of the Roman Empire, and in my mind whatever is legal is
moral. Consequently, since the laws of
Rome permit the enslavement of human beings, in my mind this must be morally
acceptable in the eyes of God. And
besides, my dear Paul, it would be very bad for me economically to let this man
go. He’s a very good worker, you
know! I lost a great deal of money
during his absence. Hopefully he’ll be
able to make that up in the next several months of working 20 hours a day, 7
days a week. I have a saying, and I
believe it applies here: “Christianity is Christianity, but business is
business!” But don’t worry: I will
certainly let Onesimus off for an hour each Sunday for Mass. Peace be with you, Paul. You are in my prayers.
That’s what Philemon would have said if he had the mindset that many
contemporary Americans have: Americans who say it’s morally acceptable to
attack innocent human life because the unjust laws of our country allow it (and
they still do allow it, in spite of the overturning of Roe v. Wade); Americans
who vote their wallets and their pocketbooks rather than their consciences;
Americans who leave their Christianity in church, and who live the rest of
their lives as if God didn't exist. Dear
Lord, my prayer today is that the real Philemon treated Onesimus with justice
tempered with mercy, and that he eventually set his slave free because it was
the right thing to do! In other words,
Lord, I pray that Philemon actually PRACTICED and LIVED the faith that he
professed with his lips.
And I pray for us and for all Americans who claim to be Christians in 2022—that we will do the very same thing.
