Reading 1
Wis 9:13-18b
Who can know God's counsel,
or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
Reading 2
Phmn 9-10, 12-17
I, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
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.
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.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
Gospel
Lk 14:25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
"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.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple."
Meditation: Philemon 9-10,12-17
“Welcome him as you would me.” (Philemon 17)
Anyone who has read Paul’s Letter to Philemon could rightfully ask: “Why is this even in the Bible?” Perhaps a bit of historical background can help.
Philemon probably lived in Colassae, since eight of the people who mentioned in the Letter to Philemon are also mentioned in the Letter to the Colossians. Since Paul wrote to Philemon as a close friend, the two must have become acquainted during Paul’s time there.
Onesimus was a slave who belonged to Philemon. It appears that Onesimus ran away from Philemon and somehow ended up seeking out Paul while he was in prison in Ephesus. After spending some time with Onesimus, Paul became convinced that he needed to send him back to Philemon. Paul wrote this letter as an appeal to Philemon to accept Onesimus back not as a slave but as a brother in the Lord.
Paul’s request that Philemon treat Onesimus as a brother not a slave was revolutionary. Historians tell us that nearly one-third of the people in the first-century Roman Empire were slaves. Slaves were considered to be property, not persons. To ask a master to relate to one as a brother would take nothing less than a full change of heart and mind! Knowing he could not in himself abolish the entire practice of slavery, Paul did what he could to encourage masters to treat their servants kindly and to encourage believing slaves to serve their masters as if serving the Lord himself (Colossians 3:22-24).
The Letter to Philemon tells us that whatever our social status, we all need to treat each other with dignity and respect, as children of the same heavenly Father. Are you a supervisor at work? Then ask yourself how you are treating those who work for you. Do you work for someone? Then take a moment to examine if you are treating him or her with the respect they deserve.
“Jesus, help me to welcome those I meet today as you welcome me—as your own brother or sister.”
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