HOMILY for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Cycle C
September 4, 2016
In
the second reading from St. Paul to Philemon, we see Philemon, apparently one
of St. Paul’s converts, faced with a dilemma. His slave, Onesimus, had run away. But, who does Onesimus end up with but St.
Paul. And the slave also gets converted
by St. Paul. Now St. Paul sends Onesimus
the slave back to his master, Philemon, and tells Philemon, “welcome him as you would me.”
It
sounds simple, but it is extremely dangerous.
Philemon is in a tough spot. It
is bad enough that Philemon has lost a slave, a big financial hit. Now even worse, Paul is sending him back with
the instruction “welcome him as you would me.” Paul
lays it on rather thick: “I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to
you.” THAT is a real problem. The usual way to “welcome back” a runaway
slave is NOT the way you would welcome St. Paul.
So
Philemon has got to make a choice. Will
he follow the wisdom of the world, ignore the entreaty of St. Paul, and
severely punish his runaway slave, or will he follow the request of St Paul and
welcome his former slave, “no longer as a slave but more
than a slave, a brother, especially dear to “St. Paul????
And
if Philemon welcomes his former slave as a brother, how long will it be before
all his slaves suddenly get religion and become Christians??? What will his neighbors, his fellow
slave-holders and respectable people of the community think of that? What will his wife and children say?
Poor
Philemon is in a tough spot. It is a
perfect example of what Jesus is talking ab0ut in the Gospel. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father
and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life,
he cannot be my
disciple. Whoever does not carry his own
cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
This
is pretty tough. It involves a total and
complete commitment. There is no room
for hesitation, for half-measures, for a “measured,
reasonable” response. This is all in or
not at all.
The
cost of discipleship is high. Indeed, it
demands EVERYTHING. It is unreasonable,
it is total, it is, frankly, fanatic.
Jesus
is not pussyfooting around on this, not making qualifications or
exceptions. He very clearly lays it out
there: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and
sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
So, if being a disciple of Jesus is so costly, why would anyone
buy into it? Why follow Jesus if the
cost is everything?
This
is not the calculation of the business world.
Even if from a rational cost-benefit ratio analysis it makes logical
sense to give up everything in order to gain salvation and the fullness of
eternal life, still, real people don’t think like
that.
Rather,
this is the logic of love, of whole-hearted love, of love that demands and that
sacrifices everything. Not because of
the reward, of the payoff, but because of the desire to be fully united with
the Beloved, and the fullness of the Love.
What is desired is wholehearted union with the Beloved.
Salvation,
eternal life, the fullness of Love, the Beatific Vision as we used to say. It is complete and total happiness. And indeed, the total commitment is
necessary for the union with the Beloved to be total. Only by putting ourselves totally and
completely into discipleship of the Lord Jesus are we able to be totally and
completely redeemed, renewed, refashioned anew.
By not holding back anything, by committing 100% of our strength, our
passions, our fears, our very selves, will we be completely and entirely and
fully redeemed. We will be made totally
new. Starting now. And that is wonderful.
Only
by going beyond the ordinary and the common place could Philemon be fully and
extraordinarily filled with new life.
And the same is true for us.
Jesus
shows us the way, the way to union with the Father. It is not easy. But it is worth all the work and sacrifice,
and Jesus walks with us every step of the way.
It is the way of Love.
God bless.
