Sunday/Philemon

 Sunday/Philemon

The epistle today is from Paul's to Philemon, Paul's shortest. In it Paul, old now and in prison. recommends his 'child,' Onesimus, to his old friend, Philemon

The second reading from the letter of St. Paul to Philemon
9-10, 12-17

I, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
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.

The backstory is important. Onesimus is an actual slave. More importantly, he's Philemon's slave. And he was not just 'away from you for a while,' he stole from Philemon, then ran off, both maiming offenses. He is in prison with Paul for a third, unrelated crime. He is being returned to his master--who can by rights chop off his hand and foot--not for justice but for Christian charity. His life is not to be viewed by birth or circumstance, it is to be cherished equally as a child of God. As Paul himself.

At this time in history, nobody was thinking and talking like this. This was a cataclysmic revolution in thought.