Paul Imprisoned. Rembrandt

The letter to Philemon, read in today’s Mass, is quite different than Paul’s other letters. For one, Paul is asking a favor and this is a bit unusual because he has always protested as to how independent he was and how he supported himself by the labor of his own hands.

And Paul also begins this letter in a different way. He usually says Paul an Apostle…but not here. Here is says, Paul, a prisoner of Christ. He is not appealing to Philemon with the authority of an apostle, but rather appealing to sympathy and to love alone.

Philemon must have been a very remarkable man in that he had opened his house to the early Church and helped not only Paul but myriads of fellow Christians…”You have brought me much joy and encouragement because, my brother, the hearts of God’s people have been refreshed by you.”

Onesimus was Philemon’s slave. He surely knew and liked Paul when he was visiting at Philemon’s house. For whatever reason, something provoked him and he ran from Philemon’s house and sought out Paul and stayed with him for a while. Paul knows that Onesimus was wrong in running away and as much as he would have loved to keep him at his side he knew that he had to be returned. And so Paul appeals to Philemon’s Christ like heart, not to someone who might be wealthy or scholarly or even prayerful, but to one who can be generous to all in spite of circumstances.

Paul sends Onesimus back reluctantly because he has become very fond of him. Sending him back is like sending a piece of his own heart. Paul in doing so, is making it clear that Christianity is not trying to help people escape from their past. Rather, it is about helping people face their past and rise above it.

So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me. Paul is insisting that Christians must always welcome back those who have made a mistake. Easier said than done. Isn’t it true that when someone has taken a wrong turn we are never prepared to trust them again in the same way? We believe that God can forgive them but we ourselves might not be able to do the same as fully as God does. One of the greatest things about Jesus is that he trusts us on the very field of our defeat. To be another Christ is to learn to do the same.
JG