WORD 2day: Thursday, 32nd week in Ordinary time
November, 12, 2020: Philemon 7-20; Luke 17: 20-25
Paul does not request or exhort Philemon to forgive and accept Onesimus, not anymore as a slave, but as a brother in the Lord. He almost commands and takes for granted that it is done. This is because forgiveness, love and union of hearts are no more options to choose from. The very fact that one chooses to be a Christian, that is a follower of Christ, he or she has already chosen these to be values of life! They are to be the very way of life for a Christian because: the Reign of God is amidst us.
Misunderstandings between husband and wife, misgivings between the families, fights among siblings, the bitter experiences of past, nothing of these can give me an excuse to remain stubborn in my shell and refuse to build communion. What a shame it is to see sealed churches, divided parishes, division stricken religious congregations and communities, and hearts with discriminating and dividing sensibilities, within the so called family of God! That should be considered an anomaly, a serious deficiency, an abominable virus!
There is no more a sense of magnanimity in treating everyone as my brother and sister... it is after all what I am expected to do, the normal way of being as a Christian... because the Reign of God is within me! Priding in the fact that we live together, we accept each and we work together, is a sign of immaturity in terms of true Christian lifestyle. It has to be taken for granted that we are brothers and sisters and we accept each other - the mark of maturity however lies in, how genuinely and deeply we love each other as brothers and sisters in the One Lord.
In short, the choice we have is very fundamental: either living a Christian or not, on a daily basis! I am either a Reign person or an anti-Reign person... the choice is mine!