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Philemon 7-20

Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.
Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,
being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.
I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment,
who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
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.
And if he has done you any injustice
or owes you anything, charge it to me.
I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay.
May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.
Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.

The Word of the Lord.

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At the time of Christ, there were an estimated 60 million slaves living within the Roman Empire. They were treated as harshly as one can imagine; legally, they were tools in the hands of their masters.

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Our first reading addresses the horror of slavery, but in a very unique way. This Letter to Philemon is the only personal letter written by Saint Paul which history has preserved.

Paul is writing to a slave owner, Philemon, about his slave – and now Paul’s cherished friend and disciple in the Lord – Onesimus.

We don’t know exactly how, but Onesimus escaped the hands of his master and made his way to Rome where he found Saint Paul and was likely baptized by him. 

Now Paul is awaiting his execution in prison. Before his death, he’s decided to make a risky, wrenching decision: to send Onesimus back to his master, Philemon.

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The entire letter is a single chapter, but it’s soaked in faith, hope, and love.

Paul writes to Philemon, hoping his words will inspire a change of heart, allowing Philemon to receive Onesimus, not as a slave, but as a free person and brother in Christ.

According to Roman Law, Philemon reserved the right to crucify Onesimus for running away from him. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

What did he do? Did Philemon keep Onesimus, kill him, or welcome him as a brother?

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We aren’t certain. 

However, fifty years after this letter was written, Saint Ignatius of Antioch – one of the early Christian bishops and martyrs – mentions someone named Onesimus in one of his pastoral letters, stating how highly regarded he was as a Christian and a bishop. 

He also uses the same style in his letter that Paul did in his Letter to Philemon.

It’s quite possible this Onesimus, once a slave, then baptized by Paul, returned to Philemon, was freed, and became a leader in the early Church… even a bishop.

Such as story teaches us many lessons about life, faith, and forgiveness. But perhaps Saint Paul sums it up best, “We are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

May we treat each other accordingly today.

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Image credits: (1) Learn Religions (2) LivingWithFaith.org (3) Devoted to You

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Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem,
he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.
They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying,
“Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”
And when he saw them, he said,
“Go show yourselves to the priests.”
As they were going they were cleansed.
And one of them, realizing he had been healed,
returned, glorifying God in a loud voice;
and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.
He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“Your faith has saved you.”

We can certainly say this about the Saints, whose stories not only inspire us, but remind us of what human beings are capable of when a willing heart is filled with God’s grace.

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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Frances Cabrini.

Just last week, a group of parishioners and I made a pilgrimage to her shrine, celebrating Mass at her tomb.

Frances is one of only ten canonized Saints to have called America, “home.” Although born in northern Italy in the 1850’s, she immigrated to the United States after being sent by the pope to care for sick and orphaned Italian immigrants in New York City.

By the end of her life, her mission expanded far beyond New York; she established 67 different institutions to care for the poorest of the poor, not only in the US and Italy, but also in Central and South America.

Nine years after her death, sisters from the religious order she founded, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, even took root in China.

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What strikes me most about Frances’ life was her ability to overcome fear for the sake of the Gospel.

For example, she nearly drowned in a canal as a child, leaving her with a terrible fear of water. Imagine what must’ve been racing through her mind – the fear, the anxiety! – after seeing the ocean for the very first time, realizing she was about to cross it.

Frances made that months-long pilgrimage across the Atlantic 23 times over the course of her life.

She once said, in so many words, “I do not ask God to take my fear away. Rather, to expand my heart. If I love more than I fear, then I shall overcome.”

And overcome she did. She turned fear into love; darkness into light; chaos into order; doubt into faith; sick and restless orphans into children of God.

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May Frances intercede for us, that God would expand our hearts with his grace, never allowing fear to prevent us from doing his will.

Saint Frances Cabrini, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) Pin Page (2) Catholic News Agency (3) Hope With God, Facebook

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Gospel: Luke 17: 7-10

Jesus said to the Apostles:
“Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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One important theme in the bible is stewardship. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with managing something important that belongs to another. 

In the Old Testament, the prophets were stewards of God’s Word. They were entrusted with listening to, then sharing God’s message with Israel. Often that message involved repentance, or turning back to God.

Other figures, such as Noah and Moses, were stewards of God’s covenants. 

Noah was responsible for guiding God’s animals into the ark before the great flood. Moses was the steward of the 10 Commandments, ensuring Israel remained faithful to their end of the covenant.

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In the New Testament, Jesus often speaks in parables, using stewardship as a way to describe all of humanity’s responsibility to guard and govern God’s creation.

This not only involves caring for the physical world around us, but also the relationships we hold most dear.

For example, both a husband and a wife are stewards of their marriage.

Priests are stewards of the Sacraments.

We are stewards of this parish.

All of us are stewards of the gift of faith, which God has planted in our hearts.

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What we do with these gifts matters.

Think of the parable Jesus gives about the three stewards entrusted with their Master’s fortune. 

One was given 10 talents, another 5, another 1. Those entrusted with 5 and 10 talents doubled their Master’s fortune, while the steward entrusted with 1 talent buried it in the sand. He was harshly condemned.

God expects us to care for the gifts he has given us – Sacraments, creation, a marriage, friendships, fortune, faith – not because we expect anything in return; rather, because everything we have been given is ultimately his.

Using today’s Gospel imagery, we are merely “unprofitable servants,” doing what we are obliged to do. 

What am I a steward of? How will I care for that today?

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Image credits: (1) St. Lawrence Catholic Church (2) Faith Lutheran Church (3) Coram Deo