Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time /
Msgr. Owen F. Campion
The Sunday Readings
The Book of Wisdom provides this weekend’s liturgy with its first scriptural reading.
It is believed that this book was written in Alexandria, Egypt, by a Jew who had emigrated from the Holy Land, or whose ancestors had come from the Holy Land. It was originally composed in Greek. Since it was written outside the Holy Land and not in Hebrew, orthodox Jews have never accepted it as genuine Scripture. Noting this, Anglican scholars in the early 17th century excluded it from the King James Version of the Bible.
In the most ancient Christian tradition, however, it has been revered as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
This book, along with so much of the wisdom literature, builds on the basic notion that the unshaken Jewish belief in the one true God and the law of Moses reflects true wisdom, the deepest and best human logic.
This reading simply says that much of life cannot be predicted beforehand, nor can it be understood. Humans are limited. God is all-wise. The wonder is that God has shared with us in speaking to us through representatives, such as Moses and the prophets.
For its second reading, the Church chooses a passage from St. Paul’s Epistle to Philemon. This epistle is rarely proclaimed in the liturgy, possibly because Philemon is the shortest volume in the New Testament, with only one chapter made up of 25 verses.
The story it tells is dramatic. Paul writes to Philemon, whose slave, Onesimus, escaped from Philemon’s custody and went to be with Paul.
For a slave to run away from his or her master was a serious crime in Roman law at the time, as it once was in the U.S.
Paul announces that he is sending Onesimus back to Philemon, but Paul counsels Philemon to receive the runaway slave as a brother in Christ.
Beyond the particulars, several lessons strongly appear. The first is that all humans are equal in dignity, having been created by God, and having been redeemed by Christ.
Secondly, disciples must love all others, including those difficult to love.
St. Luke’s Gospel supplies the last reading.
The Gospel already has made clear that true discipleship builds upon a deeply personal wish to follow the Lord. It is a decision not always easy to sustain.
Enabling a disciple to continue in this resolution and to abide by it in every circumstance of life requires not just determination, but God’s strength and insight.
The Gospel bluntly says that many obstacles can stand between a disciple’s initial intention to follow Christ, and actually living as a disciple.
It is important to remember that Luke was written when Christianity, albeit an infant religion in the Roman Empire, very much was sailing into the hot, strong winds of cultural opposition to Gospel values, and even into persecution under the law.
A fact, an obvious result of this situation, was that Christians had to face pressure from their loved ones to forsake the Gospel. Thus, the evangelist here recalls that Jesus said a true disciple should turn away even from father and mother, brother or sister, if these close relatives urged abandoning Christ.
First and foremost was the disciple’s choice to be one with Christ.
Reflection
The Gospel sets the stage. Living the Christian life is not easy. Christians must withstand much if they are committed.
Among other pressures is the pressure not to see God in others, not to give others their due.
Only in standing firm against such pressures can a disciple expect to stay the course. To stand firm, a disciple first must admit personal inadequacy and ask for strength and wisdom from God.
Blessedly, if humbly sought, strength, determination and wisdom will come from God. †