The letter of Saint Paul to Philemon is a letter of recommendation. Onesimus was a slave who had escaped his master, Philemon, and was instructed by Saint Paul while the Apostle was in prison. Onesimus became a Christian, a fact that explains these words, “My child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment”. The time for Onesimus to go back to his master had then arrived and Saint Paul wrote one of the most famous and beautiful letters of recommendation in history.

Reflecting on this letter of recommendation this past week, I recalled what I believe has been the most transcendental recommendation someone ever made on my behalf. The story begins with a classmate of mine from seminary in Colombia. Arriving at the same time as I, my friend stayed in the seminary for three years before moving to El Paso, Texas. Our friendship remained strong and the idea of my moving to the United States was a recurring theme in our conversations. Five years later, the bishop of El Paso wanted to ordain him as deacon in his native town in Colombia. In order to do that, the bishop of El Paso needed permission from the local bishop. That bishop in Colombia was not the bishop of the diocese I was originally part of. I say “originally” because by that time I had already left my diocese and had taken a period of time to think about the serious step of being ordained as a priest. I was then 23 years old. During that time, I had cultivated the friendship of this other bishop in Colombia. When the providential opportunity of the trip of the bishop of El Paso came about, I was then not attached to any diocese and this other Colombian bishop had become my new bishop, though not in a formal way.

The bishop of El Paso arrived in Colombia some days before the ordination date and my friend introduced me to him. Then it happened that an uncle of the Bishop of El Paso died and the bishop decided to immediately return to El Paso for his funeral. Nonetheless he provided for my friend’s ordination to proceed. He simply needed to write a letter giving permission to the other bishop to celebrate the ordination. My friend and I then made plans with the bishop from Colombia for him to recommend me to the bishop of El Paso. The bishop of El Paso should have found it strange that besides my friend I was also present during the meeting of the two bishops. Once they spoke about the ordination and the letter, the bishop from Colombia introduced me as one of his seminarians who was missing only one year of formation for the priesthood. That should have sounded as a good deal. He spoke highly of me and of the friendship between my friend and me. And just as Saint Paul had thought of Onesimus, he said that he would have liked to retain me, though at the same time he knew of the benefit of seeing me and my friend close to each other. The bishop of El Paso accepted his recommendation and this is how I came to the United States. Now, how I became a priest for the diocese of Raleigh, not one for the diocese of El Paso, is a story for another day. Since the original purpose of the bishop’s trip to Colombia was not accomplished, I can say that the visible thing achieved by the bishop of El Paso from that trip was to gain one more seminarian, me, for his diocese, who after all did not end up working there. God’s hands are in all the things that happen in our lives.

This observation that things happen for a reason often hidden from us is implied in the words of Saint Paul. Onesimus was away from Philemon for a time perhaps in order that Philemon would have the chance to put into practice his Christian faith. His belief in our Lord Jesus Christ would then compel Philemon to forgive Onesimus for whatever he had done and take him back. That welcoming back was not to simply keep Onesimus at the ranking Philemon had him before but rather to place him at a higher ranking, one of a brother in the faith. Saint Paul challenges Philemon to do one of the most difficult things to do in life: forgiving from the heart and placing the person who has wronged us with a higher reputation than before. It is so difficult!

We Christians are invited by the Lord to see other people not as inferior people than ourselves but as members of our own family, God’s family, as our brothers and sisters. Here we are reminded of the way the Lord calls his disciples, not as slaves but as his friends. The Lord’s reality, his transforming grace given to us is what changes the way we must see others. Let us finally turn to our Lord, who calls us his friends, and humbly ask him to grant us his grace so that we may love as Saint Paul urged Philemon to do.