Category: Ordinary Time Year C

Our Second Reading today is an extract from the letter of St. Paul to a gentleman named Philemon.

The letter takes up no more than a page in the Bible I use.

Philemon was a first-century Christian and a slave owner who also hosted a church in his home, most likely in Colossae.

His name means “affectionate” in Greek, and, from all we know about Philemon, he lived up to his name.

Paul had led Philemon to faith on one of his visits to Asia Minor and had stayed in Philemon’s home when in that region.

The book of Philemon is a personal letter from the apostle Paul to his friend Philemon whom he calls a “dear friend and fellow worker” 

 Paul appeals to his friend on behalf of a runaway slave named Onesimus.

Onesimus had somehow connected with Paul, who was imprisoned in Rome. Onesimus became a believer, but, because he was the property of Philemon, Paul sends him back to his owner with a letter.

The fact the Philemon owns a slave we know he is a person of means. The word we might use today is ‘affluent’. There is realisation that persons of means are not excluded from hearing God’s Word and believing.

The relationship between Paul and Philemon is clearly warm and respectful.

While Paul never criticizes Philemon for owning slaves, he gently reminds him that Onesimus is now a brother in Christ and that truth should now define the relationship.

It is quite probable that Philemon freed his returned slave, as he heeded Paul’s instruction that, under the covenant of grace, both master and slave have equal standing in the body of Christ.

Several of my teenage years were spent as a member of what was then known as “the Young Vinnies”.

We were youth volunteers of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

Young teenage kids doing what the “grown up” members of the Society would be doing.

Collecting firewood, delivering groceries, cutting lawns, trimming hedges.

My secondary schooling took place at St Patrick’s College, Wellington.

The college sat on the corner of Cambridge Terrace and Buckle St.

Just across from the cricket ground known as the Basin Reserve.

At the end of the college, there sat what was known as the “Buckle St Soup Kitchen”.

Managed by the Sisters of Compassion, this soup kitchen provided food for the less fortunate people of Wellington city.

And, as a Young Vinnie, one of my tasks was to assist the Sisters and staff at meal time.

It was awful; dishevelled, unkempt, smelly men would turn up. Many reeking of cheap alcohol, some with a bottle of meths hanging from their coat pocket.

They would gobble down their food and leave hurriedly to find the best spot across the road at the Basin Reserve to doss down for the night.

I said, a paragraph ago, ‘it was awful’. It was awful because I had not experienced a Church like this.

Church was always neat and tidy. Outside, the lawns were neatly mown, the edges trimmed.
Inside, the pews always were aligned correctly, books stacked neatly, flowers rested in bright brass flower stands. There was a lingering smell of incense and candlewax.

As a family we dressed in our ‘Sunday best!’ Persons were well behaved and spoke with consideration for one another.

The words of Jesus from today’s Gospel (Lk. 17:13 – 14) hit somewhere around the solar plexus

“When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The key word here, for myself anyway, is the word “invite”. My dictionary tells me that the word ‘invite’ means to ask somebody formally to go somewhere or do something.

The initiative lies with the host.

Consider for a moment how many of our Church buildings ‘invite’ the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind?

Our Church architecture presumes you are fit and able. Many of our Churches have steps into the building and steps to and around the sanctuary.

How many of our Churches provide sign language as a regular option?

To receive Holy Communion, most churches require the recipient to walk to the front!

When designing or remodelling a church building ask the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind, and the deaf!

Consider how many of our faith communities ‘invite’ the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind?

“When you give a banquet . . . . “

Are you finding it awkward, perhaps even difficult to read the Bible these days?
Especially texts taken from the Old Testament as our First Readings.

Vivid images and accompanying stories from area called Gaza make for difficult reconciliation for me.

I need to admit that I am becoming increasingly despondent when I am invited to read and reflect on these texts.

Kieran O’Mahony OSA, is an Augustinian friar and biblical scholar, living in St John’s Priory, Dublin

Kieran offers us this reflection centred around our First Reading from the prophet Isaiah (66: 18 -21)

“It is hard not to overstate what is happening in Gaza: the destruction of the territory, the starvation and attempted genocide of the people. All this is done in the name of biblically inspired “nationalism”.

As such, it has made many people very, very uncomfortable with overt nationalist passages in the readings from the Bible. This causes the Bible to be frowned upon by those who fight for freedom, equality, and fraternity.

To people perhaps not so familiar with the Bible, today’s first reading from Isaiah must come as something of a surprise. It offers a vision of all nations coming to worship the one, true God.

The reading comes from the last part of Isaiah, usually called Third Isaiah, written after the return from the great Exile in Babylon. In spite of that setting, the reading breathes a broader, more universal air.

This slightly exotic text is a reminder that in the Bible there are not one but two narratives of salvation.

The first one, perhaps more familiar, is unapologetically nationalist, often harshly expressed. It is the story of the ancient Israelites, later the Jewish people. The second one, perhaps less apparent, offers a different story, the story of all the nations and their inclusion in God’s plan of salvation.”

Reading and reflecting on today’s text from Isaiah I was reminded of my visit to the United Nations building in New York City.

The building itself is substantial, rising some 39 floors into the Manhattan skyline; however, the image fixed in my memory is that of flags.

The United Nations Headquarters displays the flags of its member and observer states. These flags are arranged in English alphabetical order, representing the 193 member states and the two observer states (Holy See and the State of Palestine). 

The flags are raised in the morning and lowered in the afternoon on weekdays.

Fluttering in the afternoon breeze they shouted out, “Look at us! We dance together!”

No one flag dominates; they are raised to the same height; the same breeze energizes each flag simultaneously.

Together they flutter as a unified palette of colour.

Then I read with hope the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Knowing their works and thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see my glory.” (Is 66:1