November 15, 2012

Thursday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 494

First Reading from St. Paul's letter to Philemon

Phln 7-20

St. Paul addresses this letter to one of the Leaders of the Christian Church:

Philemon 1:1

King James Version (KJV)

¹ Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,

We begin at verse 7.

Beloved:
I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love,
because the hearts of the holy ones
have been refreshed by you, brother.

St. Paul praises Philemon for his work in the Church.

Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ
to order you to do what is proper,
I rather urge you out of love,

But then he points out his authority over Philemon.  He says he has the right to order Philemon to do what is right.  But would rather that Philemon do what is right out of love.

being as I am, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.

I don't like to second guess the translators of a Bible because they are experts in the language.  But I think this probably means, "Paul, Elder and Prisoner of Christ Jesus".  The Greek word for "old man" is  "presbytēs"  which looks suspiciously like "presbyterion" which means, "body of elders".

Or maybe its a play on words which St. Paul uses in order that the message not sound as threatening to Philemon.  

But, I'm not a Greek expert.  And I note that only one other Bible version agrees with me.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
But for love's sake, I beg of you, I Paul, who am The Elder, as you know, and also a prisoner of Yeshua The Messiah,

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.

Onesimus is the slave of Philemon.  But during St. Paul's imprisonment, he has become like family to St. Paul.  St. Paul calls him his son.  I don't understand what he means by, "was once useless to you". Unless he means that is why Philemon allowed Onesimus to go with St. Paul.

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.

Now he is sending Onesimus back to Philemon.  And it is breaking his heart.  Therefore, he is requesting that Philemon consider permitting Onesimus to stay with St. Paul.  He is clear, however, that Philemon should not feel coerced.

Of course, St. Paul here sounds a lot like my mother when she doesn't want to coerce me into doing something.  Suddenly she remembers those nine months that she had to endure to bring me into this world.  That is usually the hint that I need to do the right thing.

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.

But if Onesimus is to go back, he urges Philemon to give him his freedom.  Because Onesimus has become a Christian and therefore is now a brother in the Spirit.

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.

And St. Paul tells him to treat Onesiumus as he would treat St. Paul.  And also, that, if Onesimus owes him anything, he should charge it to St. Paul's account.

I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay.
May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.

Then St. Paul does another imitation of my mother.  He says, "whatever he owes you, I will pay.  But I want to remind you that you owe me your life."

Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord.
Refresh my heart in Christ.

Continuing in that vein, he also adds, "I want you to be one of the reasons that I am rewarded by Our Lord".  Which sounds like, "I want you to go to heaven.  Don't mess up now."  ; )

Apologetically speaking, whenever someone charges that Christianity approves of slavery, this is the classic text which shows that the Church began to discourage the institution in Apostolic times.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

R. (5a) Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

or:

R. Alleluia.

The LORD secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets captives free.

R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

or:

R. Alleluia.

The LORD gives sight to the blind.
The LORD raises up those who were bowed down;
the LORD loves the just.
The LORD protects strangers.

R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

or:

R. Alleluia.

The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.
The LORD shall reign forever;
your God, O Zion, through all generations. Alleluia.

R. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob.

or:

R. Alleluia.

Obviously, we look around and we see many people afflicted by many such ailments and no perceptible sign that God is doing any healing.  This is where we must have faith like that of Abraham who, when his son was seemingly about to die, believed that God could give him back his son even from the grave:

Hebrews 11:17-19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: ¹⁹ Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Lk 17:20-25

Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come,
Jesus said in reply,
"The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed,
and no one will announce, 'Look, here it is,' or, 'There it is.'
For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you."

The Pharisees wanted to know when God would overthrow the human rulers and begin to rule man Himself.  Jesus said to them that the Kingdom of God was not visible to the human eye, in fact, the Kingdom of God was already there, in front of them.

Then he said to his disciples,
"The days will come when you will long to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it.

Then Jesus turned to His students and said, "the days will come when you will miss me.

There will be those who will say to you,
'Look, there he is,' or 'Look, here he is.'

And some will say, He is here.  Another, He is there.

Do not go off, do not run in pursuit.

But don't go looking for me.

For just as lightning flashes
and lights up the sky from one side to the other,
so will the Son of Man be in his day.

Because I will be moving as fast as the lightning which crosses the sky.

But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation."

But before all that, I will be rejected by the people of this world.  

Sincerely,

De Maria