PHILEMON AND ONESIMUS

HOMILY FOR THE 23^RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

Philemon was Paul’s fellow Christian who was the leader in the Colossian Church. His servant, Onesimus had ran away on account of the evil he committed against him. While with Paul, a prisoner in Rome, Onesimus became a believer and renounced his former ways of life which might have put him into trouble with his master Philemon. Paul then wrote to Philemon asking him to forgive and accept Onesimus, no longer as a slave but as a fellow Christian. In Paul, Onesimus found a new faith.

In his Letter to Philemon which deals with the themes of forgiveness and reconciliation (cf. Second Reading, Philemon 9b-10.12-17), Paul addresses Onesimus as his child: I appeal to you for my child, whose father I have become... This would imply that Onesimus was converted through Paul’s ministry. The appeal of Paul to accept Onesimus as a beloved brother, both in the flesh and in the Lord makes all three -Paul, Philemon and Onesimus adopted children of God by virtue of their baptism. The love and unity between Philemon and Onesimus would now be based on their faith in Christ, while that unnecessary slave-master hierarchy would no longer make any sense. Onesimus returns now to his master, more faithful then ever, related in a way that not even death can undo. He returns with a big difference; no longer as a heathen slave, but as a beloved brother in Christ.

Paul did not just stop at exhorting Philemon to accept Onesimus as a beloved brother, but to have him forever. By virtue of the Christian baptism, we have become en-grafted to Christ that we forever share a common patrimony and father, irrespective of race, class and interests. Philemon is a Greek name which means ‘affectionate.’ He has now been urged more by Paul to live up to his name, in being kind and affectionate to accept a brother who erred against him. Is it not then true that the Christian has the obligation to accept the fellow Christian who might have wronged him/her? Often times, we are inclined to write-off individuals for their past mistakes while disregarding their current efforts to re-write their past. People learn, people change, people move on. We should then see ourselves as Philemons being called upon by Jesus to open our minds and hearts to others and to see one another as brethren in Christ.

Onesimus too is a Greek name which means ‘useful’ (a profitable one). The bearer of the name unfortunately was rendered useless by his master whom he wronged. He lost in himself the true meaning of his name. When he met Paul in Rome who helped him regain his true identity of usefulness, he was then sent back, no longer as that useless servant, but as a very resourceful person; useful for himself and for Philemon. And so, one might regard Paul’s Letter to Philemon as a letter of recommendation for Onesimus who had faced condemnation. The Christian is someone who even after having faced condemnation of any form constantly makes great effort to become more useful to/for God. Realising the limitations of human nature, as the First Reading unravels (Wisdom 9:13-18), we plunge ourselves into the river of God’s will, and live in total trust in the divine wisdom.  

Many times too, we might hear voices that tell us how useless we have become, and how wayward we have turned. However, these voices represent the voice of the devil, the arch enemy of God. These voices might try to ridicule even the biggest of all the efforts we make as Christians, without realizing that we have been equipped so well to discern those voices when they come. The Greek terms for ‘useless’ (αχρηστον - achriston) and ‘useful’ (εὑχρηστον - euchriston) suggest that whereas Onesimus was once achriston (useless), and therefore α-χρὶστον (a-christon - without Christ), he has now become euchriston (useful), and therefore εὑ-χρὶστον ( eu- christon, - good Christian). Paul himself testified to this real change in Onesimus. Our usefulness, capability and resourcefulness do not lie in ourselves, but only in our encounter with Jesus who even admonishes us in the Gospel (Luke 14:25-33) to keep renouncing anything that could hinder us from getting to the most useful of things -the kingdom of heaven. And finally, we ask ourselves individually: how much will it cost me to maintain and enhance my usefulness in Christ? If the salt looses its saltiness, how  can it be made salty again? (Cf. Matt. 5:13) Happy New Week. God bless you.