THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF GRACE

READING: TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

My friends, sometimes the smallest books of the Bible carry the greatest punch and challenge. The Letter of Paul to Philemon (our second reading on this 23rd Sunday, Year C) is one such book. Just one chapter long, yet bursting with love, grace, and challenge.

The storyline is this: Philemon, a slave owner, had been converted to Christianity by Paul. Onesimus, Philemon’s slave—once called useless—had run away from his master, somewhat in shame, and encountered Paul in prison in Rome, where he too was converted to Christianity. Now, Paul wants to return Onesimus to Philemon and asks Philemon to receive him back, not as property, not as someone useless, but as a beloved spiritual brother.

That is a tall order—and yet therein lies the punch of this story. Let’s begin with the writer. In addressing Philemon, Paul says, “I could order you what to do—but instead, I appeal to you out of love.” He writes not with the voice of command, but with the voice of love. Think about that. How often do we try to control others with authority, when love is far more powerful? True influence doesn’t come from control but from compassion. Parents, leaders, teachers—your greatest power is not in what you can demand, but in how you can love.

The letter is also about Onesimus, a runaway slave, someone society branded as useless, untrustworthy, even disposable. But God had other plans. In prison, Onesimus met Paul, and through Paul, he met Christ—and his life was changed. Paul calls him “my child, whom I have begotten in my chains.” From useless to useful. From runaway to redeemed. From a slave to a son in faith. That, my friends, is the transforming power of grace. Maybe you feel like Onesimus—like you’ve failed, wasted years, or drifted too far. Hear the good news: there is no sinner without a future and no saint without a past. No one is beyond God’s reach. In Christ, the broken are made whole, the lost are found, and the useless become useful.

The letter is also to Philemon, Onesimus’ master. Paul requests that he receive Onesimus, not as a slave but as a brother in Christ. Imagine how radical that sounded in a world built on social rank and power! Paul was declaring: in Christ, there is no slave or free, no superior or inferior. There is only one family—God’s family. Amazing, isn’t it? Yet we live in a world divided by politics, race, class, and pride. Accepting Jesus Christ should compel us to end bitterness and hatred, reviling and malice, discrimination and dehumanization, classism and racism. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. I know that sounds like a cliché, but it is truly a radical concept at the very heart of Christianity. The Gospel does not just save souls—it heals relationships. It does not only reconcile us to God—it reconciles us to one another.

The question to ask, then, is this: Who is the Onesimus in my life? Who needs my forgiveness, my welcome, my embrace? Who needs to be received not with suspicion or bitterness, but with the open arms of Christ? True faith is about building bridges where the world wants to build walls.

So let us allow love to lead!

Let us allow grace to transform!

Let us allow reconciliation to be our default mode.