In the next paragraph of Spe Salvi, Pope Benedict looks to the early Church to see how the hope that Christ brings was more than just a theoretical, or “informative”, hope, but one that was “performative”, in that it has the ability to change our lives, both individually and as a society.
A point of reference to demonstrate this performative quality of hope can be found in St. Paul’s Letter to Philemon, the shortest of his writings in the New Testament. As an aside, we only hear from this letter in the liturgy once in the three-year cycle of Sunday readings (23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year C) and once in the two-year cycle of Weekday readings (Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time – Year II). Since it is so short, perhaps that could be a worthwhile read this week. With that said, let us consider how the Holy Father sees this passage as so important.
The pope quotes the following words from St. Paul, speaking to Philemon about returning Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus to him:
“I appeal to you for my child … whose father I have become in my imprisonment … I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart … perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother …” (Philem 10-16)
In explaining St. Paul’s encouragement to Philemon to now see Onesimus no longer as a slave, but “as a beloved brother”, Pope Benedict writes the following:
Those who, as far as their civil status is concerned, stand in relation to one another as masters and slaves, inasmuch as they are members of the one Church have become brothers and sisters—this is how Christians addressed one another. By virtue of their Baptism they had been reborn, they had been given to drink of the same Spirit and they received the Body of the Lord together, alongside one another. Even if external structures remained unaltered, this changed society from within. (SS 4)
The encounter with Christ, an encounter which gives us reason for hope, is not just about the promise of eternal life only, but it also transforms how we are called to see one another through a new lens, even as we continue our pilgrimage. We are invited to see our fellow pilgrims as brothers and sisters who strive to honor and respect one another, loving one another as is appropriate to our state in life. Distinctions in civil status may remain, but because of the new life given through baptism, those distinctions are no longer primary. Rather, what takes priority is living the bonds of fraternity with others, under our one Master, whose rule is always rooted in charity. The idea of our society living this way, which is more than just a theory, but very practical, should fill us with hope in how life and society can be better.
I find this to be a timely message for our society. Though there have always been divisions, they seem to be more pronounced now than ever before. We can get preoccupied with some aspect of how we see others, such as their political affiliation, their nationality, their race, just to name a few. Sadly, that can become the predominant lens through which we view them. But the gift of grace we have received in our baptism invites us to look through the lens of faith and to see not what divides us, but what unites us as brothers and sisters in Christ. When that is our starting point, we are far more inclined to work for the good of all, not just what will be best for ourselves. If all Christians were to live this way, we would indeed see a society transformed!
Father Alford