Useful Things

Obsecro te, pro meo filio, quem genui in vinculis, Onesimo quondam tibi inutili, nunc vero tibi mihique perutili, quem remisi ad te. Tu autem illum sicut mea viscera suscipe: quem ego volueram apud me ipsum retinere, ut pro te mihi ministraret in vinculis Evangelii: sed citra tuum consilium nihil volui facere; ut non velut ex necessitate bonum tuum esset, sed voluntarium. Non magnum est humilem inclinare se, laudabile vero sublimem virum humiliare se; ideo Apostolus rogat eum, cui imperandi habet potestatem, ut in omnibus forma sit ad profectum meritorum. Onesimum ergo profugum recurrentem ad divinum auxilium, cum esset in custodia urbis Romae, baptizavit Apostolus, videns in illo utilitatis spem. Quem sic commendat, ut suum animum in illo significet idoneum ex inutili factum tam saecularibus, quam divinis obsequiis. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philomenem Source: Migne PL 17.505c-d

'I beg you, for my son, whom I bore in chains, for Onesimus who was once useless to you, now however most useful to you and to me, whom I return to you. Receive him as my own heart, he whom I wished to keep with me, that as he served me in chains for the Gospel, so he do you, but without your consent I would do nothing, for not from necessity is your good, but from freedom.' 1 It is not a great thing for a humble man to bow, but it is praiseworthy for a great man to humble himself; therefore the Apostle asks him, a man who has the power to command, that in everything he conduct himself for the increase of his merits. Thus the fugitive Onesimus' return is for Divine aid, he whom the Apostle baptized when he was in prison in Rome, seeing in him hope of usefulness. Whom he commends as his own soul, signifying that he has been made useful from uselessness, as being brought from worldly things into Divine service. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To Philemon 1 Philemon 10-14

Receiving A Friend

Si ergo habes me socium, assume illum sicut me. Tantum se affectum habere circa Onesimum ostendit, ut tunc Philemonem, quem superius laudat, participem suum dicat, si istum sic susceperit, sicut Apostolum. Hoc est enim quod dixit Salomon: Servo sapienti liberi servient. Quod dictum terrori est Philemoni, ut saltem vel hac causa assumeret eum, si charitate flecti non posset. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philomenem Source: Migne PL 17.506a-b

'If, therefore, you have me as a friend, receive him as you would me.' 1  Such affection he shows for Onesimus  that he asks Philemon, whom he praised above, to be a sharer in it, by receiving Onesimus like an Apostle. For it is as Solomon said: 'Free sons shall serve the wise slave.' 2 Which is spoken to trouble  Philemon, that at least for that reason he should receive him, if he is not able to be inclined by love. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To Philemon 1 Philemon 17 2 Sirach 10.25

Master And Slave

Fortisan enim idcirco secessit ad horam, ut in aeternam illum reciperes: non jam velut servum, sed pro servo delictum fratrem, maxime mihi; quanto autem magis tibi et in carne et in Domino? Onesimus, offenso domino proprio, confugit longa peregrinatione ad Apostolum; ut ostenderet se non ad hoc recessise, ut delicti esset obnoxius, sed ut obliteratis peccatis, utilis reverteretur in tantum, ut non solum domino suo aequalis fieret meritis, sed et ipsi magistrio frater. Et ne Philemon aliquod, ut assolet, quasi dominus adversum servum, fastidium inflationis pateretur, humiliat illum, cum dicit illum fratrem et in carne et in Domine; ut subalata humanae conditionis causa, quia omnes ex uno sumus Adam, fratres nos cognoscamus: maxime cum fides accedit media, quae omnem superbiam amputat. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, in Epistolam ad Philemon Migne PL 17 505-506

Perhaps then he had withdrawn from you to this time that in eternity you might receive him, not now as a slave, but for a slave a brother, and as much as it is so to me, how much more to you in the flesh and in the Lord? 1 Onesimus, to his own lord's offense, fled by long journey to the Apostle, that he show himself not to have withdrawn, as one guilty of a crime, but that with sin removed, he be turned to use, not only to his lord becoming of equal merit, but even a brother to that same master. And lest Philemon, as is the custom, as a lord against his servant, suffer to be puffed up with some contempt, he humbles him, when he says that he is a brother both in the flesh and in the Lord, asserting the state of the human condition, that all being from the one Adam we know ourselves brothers, and much more so having the same share of faith which cuts off all pride. Saint Ambrose, On the Epistle To Philemon 1 Philemon 15-16