February 16 | Saint Onesimus

Welcome, young history buffs and curious minds, to My Daily Saint, the podcast that digs deep into the incredible lives of the saints, those remarkable people who shaped history and continue to inspire us today. Forget dusty old portraits and boring stories. Today, we are looking at a man who went from being a piece of property to a prince of the church. Let's head back to the first century. Imagine you are running. Your heart is pounding against your ribs like a hammer. You aren't running a race at school.

You are running for your life. In the Roman Empire, you aren't considered a person. You are a tool, an object, and you have just done the unthinkable. You have run away from your master. If you are caught, the punishment isn't detention. It isn't a fine.

It is torture, or perhaps even death. You are a fugitive in a world that wants to crush you. You need to hide, but where do you go? You end up in Rome, the belly of the beast, trying to disappear into the crowd. But instead of staying lost, you find yourself in a dark, damp Roman prison. Not because you were caught, but because you went to see a prisoner who speaks of a freedom that chains can't touch.

This is the story of Saint Onesimus. What a Simus was born in the first century, and was a Phrygian, hailing from what is modern-day Turkey. He started his life in a difficult position. He was a slave to a man named Philemon.

Now, Philemon wasn't just any master. He was a Christian, and an associate of Saint Paul the Apostle. According to the history books, what a Simus fled from Philemon. We don't know exactly what happened between them initially, but we know when Onesimus ran. In a twist of divine irony, after fleeing, he encountered St. Paul himself. But Paul wasn't preaching in a great stadium, he was sitting in a Roman prison. It was there, in the shadows of a prison cell, that the runaway slave's life changed forever.

Onesimus listened to the apostle, and right there in captivity, he was baptized by Paul. The man who was running from a master found a new master in Christ. But this isn't just a story about a conversion. It's a story about facing your past.

Paul didn't tell Onesimus to keep hiding. Instead, Paul wrote one of the most personal letters found in the New Testament, the letter to Philemon. Paul entreated, that means he begged or earnestly asked, Philemon to forgive Onesimus. Paul asked Philemon to receive him not as a slave, but as a brother, and to give him his freedom so he could assist Paul in his mission.

Can you imagine the courage that took? To go back to the person you ran from, carrying a letter that says, please forgive me and set me free? But Onesimus did it. In fact, he became a trusted messenger. The Bible mentions in Colossians chapter 4 that Onesimus was one of the people entrusted to deliver the letter to the Colossians. So, what happens after the Bible verses end? Does he just fade away? Absolutely not. Saint Jerome and other church fathers tell us that Onesimus became a gifted preacher of the gospel.

He didn't just help Paul. He became a leader in his own right. He eventually succeeded Saint Timothy to become the Bishop of Ephesus. Think about that trajectory, from a runaway slave to the bishop of one of the most important cities in the ancient world. But in the first century, wearing the bishop's hat was essentially painting a target on your back. Onesimus was eventually arrested for preaching on the merit of celibacy, and the Roman authorities didn't take kindly to his message.

By order of a Roman governor, he was tortured for 18 days. Despite the agony, he refused to break. He had already faced the fear of death when he was a runaway, and he had found a faith worth dying for.

In the year 90, Onesimus won the crown of martyrdom when he was stoned to death. Onesimus is often depicted holding a scroll, representing the letter from Paul that secured his freedom and his role as a messenger of the gospel. Here is your challenge for today. Face a broken relationship. Onesimus had to go back to Philemon. He had to face the person he had wronged or fled from to make things right.

It would have been easier to keep running, but he chose reconciliation. Is there someone you are avoiding? Today, stop running. Be like Quinesimus. Brave the awkwardness, apologize if you need to, and try to fix the bridge. It might just lead you to a new kind of freedom. Thank you for joining us on My Daily Saint. We look forward to sharing another incredible story of faith and courage with you tomorrow.