During the length of my recent vacation (some would say too long. I would not), I traveled down through the states where much of the American Civil War was fought. It’s an annual vacation I’ve been doing for years, and hope to as long as Mr. Health cooperates. The states I stopped at or traveled through included Pennsylvania (the only state north of the Mason-Dixon Line that had a significant battle), Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The beauty of the landscape of these states is top-notch. It’s a different type of beauty from what we’re blessed to enjoy here in New England. It’s a bit more mountainous, a little less of the ocean, but sunsets that will match that of a sunset on Cape Cod. I gladly inform any friends who care to listen that the sunset at Gettysburg, PA rivals that of any sunset at any spot on any ocean.
But it’s more the history and not just the beauty that draws thousands of vacationers each year to this section of America. The beauty is certainly part of the attraction of east coast mid-America, for who wants to travel to an ugly place while spending lots of money on hotels and gas to fill the vehicle? Or, who wants to eat some grub that is more grubby than delicious? Certainly not moi! Rather, the history imbedded in the landscapes along these east coast paths and locations are the heart and soul of what draws millions of folks each year to visit a place like Gettysburg, Pennsylvania - Sharpsburg, Maryland; Washington, D.C., where taxation without representation remains alive and well, but not very much liked. Or lesser known places like New Market, Virginia, a small southern town where a Civil War battle was fought in 1864 that resulted in the wounding of an officer from the 34th Massachusetts Regiment by the name of Lt. Col. William S. Lincoln, taken captive by the Confederate Army, escaped their clutches with a fellow soldier as they traveled south toward a notorious prison camp in Georgia, walked hundreds of miles north along a mountain range after his escape, eventually making it back to his regiment, and still eventually making it back to his Worcester home, where he is now buried in historical Rural Cemetery on Grove Street, just a stone’s throw away from my great-great grandparents.
When we consider the 1860’s in America, for those who wish to, it was even more turbulent than the craziness of 1960’s America, some of which I still recall from my very young years. The 1960’s, it would be fair to say, was a time of great upheaval, with riots in cities, the Vietnam War fought by young Americans a million miles away in that direction, the challenge to authority, the sexual revolution, which, in my humble opinion, was one of the saddest and ugliest revolutions a people could embrace. It’s led to the breakdown of the family, which in turn opened the door for much of the confusion we witness presently, most notably in the highly profound confusion of gender ideology. Which, by the way, finds the Devil at its core, the one who is the master of confusion. God creates us male and female. It’s not hard to figure out.
As nutty as the 1960’s were, the 1860’s, in their own way, could be considered even more turbulent, with our nation literally split in half, fighting each other with guns, cannons, swords, clubs, and even rocks when all else failed. I remember a Civil War artist’s rendition of a scene that took place at the Second Battle of Manassas. The scene of the painting was an unused railroad bed with a small hill on either side of the track. Confederate soldiers in this sector had used up all their ammunition. So, what to do? Pick up rocks and throw them at the enemy, which they did. I purchased this print many years ago (and still have it) because I felt attracted to it. Not because I enjoy throwing rocks at anyone, which I do not. I would have made a terrible Pharisee in the presence of an adulteress woman, thanks be to God. The attraction, if any, likely speaks to growing up with 10 brothers and finding whatever way to defend oneself on any given day. Or, the attraction of finding a way to win a battle when the battle concerned something worth fighting for.
Anyway, when we consider the 1860’s and before, a time called antebellum America, and why a Civil War was even fought, leading to the deaths of over 700,000 Americans North and South, for most of us the first thought would revolve around the issue of slavery. That slavery was at the heart of Americans killing each other over the span of four years. If you consider this to be the case, then you would be correct, in my humble opinion. Granted, there are many more reasons why the American Civil War was fought, and they can be couched in different terminology, such as states’ rights, economic reasons, agrarian or industrial differences. But they all come back to one issue - slavery.
Like it or not, we are a nation whose history is embedded and steeped in the reality of slavery, and the way Black Americans have been treated for a very long time. Just like we are a nation whose history over the past 50 years is now deeply embedded in the issue of abortion and the loss of over 60 million American lives. Can we even comprehend this number, or would we rather not? Are we mature enough as a people to face the piper with some exceedingly grim statistics and evil practices, or would we rather walk forward in ways of spiritual immaturity and not address the truth of what’s happened head on? Sadly, it seems we tend to want the easy way out. Or the forgetful way. Which, in essence, is to live in denial.
The issues of slavery and a person’s Christian dignity we find in this week’s second reading from Paul’s Letter to Philemon, the shortest of Paul’s epistles. These Issues remain with us 2000 years after Paul wrote certain Christian words to the slave owner Philemon because they speak directly to how persons are treated, looked down upon, seen at times as having no dignity, and condescending to certain groups. The slave’s name is Onesimus, who was owned by Philemon. It appears that Onesimus has escaped from the home of Philemon, was somehow led to Paul while in prison (as usual), and became for Paul not only a supporter of his needs while in the clink, but more so a friend, companion, and Christian brother.
The point St. Paul makes about Onesimus toward Philemon in this short epistle speaks to every generation of Christian believers. In essence, Paul writes that Onesimus is not only a slave of Philemon’s now doing good for Paul, but, as a baptized Christian, the dignity of this slave is equal to that of Paul the Apostle by virtue of Onesimus’s Baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. And that this is how Christ Jesus himself sees the human dignity between Apostle and slave. Although they each have their role within the makeup of an ancient society that automatically set people into a certain class according to the family they were born into, the Sacrament of Baptism in Christ does away with all spiritual imbalances before the Lord. Yes, a baptized infant child has the very same dignity in the eyes of God as that of their much older and (hopefully) wiser parents. There is no difference. And this is the point St. Paul drives home, not only to the receiver of this letter (Philemon), but also to every age and generation of Christians, and those who profess to be Christ-followers.
This letter of St. Paul’s begs the question, “Is Paul attempting to do away with the entire class of slavery in first- century antiquity?” I remember this question arose in our seminary class taught by Dr. Michael Gorman, a world-renowned Pauline scholar. It was the teacher himself who put forth the question. The answer seems to be that Paul is not explicitly calling for the expulsion of slavery from the society he lived in. Although he appears genuinely concerned about slavery, which was a different type of slavery than what we understand about this issue in America where an entire class of persons were treated as less than human, he appears to leave aside the issue of slavery in and of itself. His first concern and heartfelt teaching is for fellow Christians, and how we are to recognize and respect the dignity that accompanies Baptism in every baptized person, whoever that person happens to be. And that Baptism makes us equal brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, with our respective roles in life that accompany our equal dignity.
Needless to say, this presently speaks to immigrants, the homeless, the addicted, prisoners, and a whole bunch of others who struggle with their own version of modern-day slavery. May this incredibly important epistle of Paul we hear proclaimed this Sunday, a short yet powerful letter, give us pause to reflect on the truest meaning of human dignity that is demanded from us by Christ Jesus our Lord. The world we live in creates unequal people through arrogance, egos, and finances. There are too many politicians in our nation’s capital who live by two sets of laws - one set for us and none for them. It couldn’t be more obvious. But Baptism calls us to see the other as having equal dignity in God’s sight. Even those who create unequal settings in our society.
St. Paul loved Onesimus not only because he cared for the Apostle while in dungeon captivity. Paul loved “the slave” because “the slave” was now equal to the Apostle in the sight of the Crucified One. Something for us to consider in our own faith lives.
HOLINESS Does holiness … imply a rejection of the profane or, to choose a more biblical usage, must one reject the world when one chooses for God? It is clear that the Bible answers that question in various ways. In both the Johannine and Pauline literature, the word world can have such a pejorative sense that one could intuit a rejection of the world in favor of Christ. Yet, at the same time, the Bible provides us with a strong, positive doctrine of creation and ample evidence that the world itself is somehow within the grace of Christ. This follows naturally from the very fact of the incarnation itself, as the prologue to St. John’s Gospel, echoing the opening of the Book of Genesis, tells us. Furthermore, John makes clear that the entire dispensation of salvation has a cosmic intent: God sent his Son because he “loved the world” and that Son came into the world, not to condemn it, but that it be saved “through him.”
It is obvious, then, that the term world has different meanings in Scripture, and therefore the relationship of the world to sanctity or perfection will also have different formulations. In fact, when one looks at the history of Christian spirituality, one sees those formulations held at times in tension in the life of the same person, with the word world signifying different things, depending on the perspective of the moment. When, for example, a figure like St. Antony of the Desert disposes of his possessions and leaves his village for the desert in order to struggle with Satan, he is clearly opting against the world in order to live a life fully centered on God. He chooses, in the deepest sense of the term, a holy life. Paradoxically enough, his rejection of the “world” results in the transformation of the world of the desert in such a fashion that its disharmonies are now graced by his life and that of his disciples. It is “a land all its own - a land of devotion and righteousness. For neither perpetrator nor victim of injustice was there, nor complaint of tax collector.” from The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality