“Receive him as myself”: the value of hospitality in the Letter to Philemon

Abstract

The main theme of the epistle is about the meeting between
Paul and Onesimus, which becomes a true Kairós moment for
a general reconsideration of the relationship between theology
and social reality. Being confronted with reality makes us ask
about the meaning of things, of the world, of life, and assign full
meaning to the word “freedom”; we cannot be neutral, as our
essence always invites us to decide, to choose. Paul, trustful of
being listened to, exhorts a Christian slave owner to challenge
social conventions by forgiving a slave that escaped and welcome
him home again, inviting him to practice fraternal hospitality.
Fraternity means preparing for the arrival of someone who is
different, the foreigner or the migrant who asks for a place,
and this changes the lives of those who are called to welcome
them. The building of fraternity through hospitality, going forth
towards the other, especially towards the poor, constitutes the
authentic heart of humanity, in which the Church, in order to
be prophetic, must be able to listen to and welcome the deepest
cries, in this way becoming an icon of the Trinity. The Church
is invited to configure its life and mission in a true perichoresis
that manifests ecclesial communion as an authentic image of
the Trinity through the richness of diversity.