Homily for the Memorial of Saint Josaphat
November 12, 2026
St. John the Apostle Catholic School and Church
North Richland Hills, Texas
Philemon 7-20
Psalm 146
Luke 17:20-25
Our first reading from Saint Paul’s letter to Philemon is a very important letter for us to read and to understand if we truly want to follow Jesus as good Catholics and Christians. Saint Paul is writing to his friend whose name is Philemon. Like Saint Paul, Philemon has become a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of His Church. They are friends and were friends before either of them became Christians. Saint Paul is writing to Philemon about this man named Onesimus who has become a Christian also. Onesimus has been Philemon’s slave.
Saint Paul is writing to Philemon to remind him that he should free Onesimus because as Christians, followers and disciples of Jesus, they have learned from Jesus that all human beings are brothers and sisters and that God does not want us to mistreat other human beings even to the extreme of claiming to own another human being as property. So, Saint Paul relies not only on his own friendship with Philemon and his new friendship with Onesimus to make his point – but most importantly he appeals to Jesus’ friendship with each of them. To be a friend of Jesus is to love our neighbor as our self, to forgive those who have injured us, and to place the good of other persons in front of our own preferences and favorite things.
Psalm 146 tells us that we should not put our trust in princes, that is to say, those in earthly government, but we should trust the Lord. In the part of Psalm 146 that we have just prayed together we hear these words, “The Lord secures justice for the oppressed, He gives food to the hungry, the Lord sets captives free.” When we speak these words, we repeat the example that the Lord sets for us. He wants us to do what He does. He wants us to treat others fairly; He wants us to share the good things that we have with other people so that all of us can live; and He wants us to forgive each other because He has forgiven us when we have offended others and sinned against them and Him.
Today we remember Saint Josaphat and ask him to pray with us at this Mass and to pray for us. Saint Josaphat was a Christian who became a bishop in Eastern Europe, particularly in what is today Ukraine. He lived in the late 1500s. He loved Jesus Christ very much and was very saddened by fighting and disunity that he saw around him among Christians. They were fighting over things like money, property, what language should be spoken at Mass, and the role of kings and princes in relationship with the Church. There was a lot of fighting even to the point of killing other people. And too many Christians placed their trust in earthly princes and not in the Lord.
Josaphat worked hard in urging all Christians to forgive each other, to be united as desired by Jesus, and to be His friend and friends with each other – brothers and sisters – like Saint Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus. Josaphat led other Christians to feed the hungry no matter what their opinions were about these other matters. He reminded people that they were to treat others with kindness and love because to do so was to be a friend of Jesus. Yet sadly many other Christians did not follow his example or listen to his words and in their anger rose up and they killed Josaphat. As he was dying, he forgave those who were murdering him and he offered his life as a prayer that all Christians be one together in love as Jesus desires.
We cannot love other people unless we first recognize with gratitude that Christ has loved each of us first and perfectly. We meet Jesus every time we pray together at Mass and especially as we receive Holy Communion together at Mass because it is there that we are transformed in His one Body, the Church. In a few moments, as we come forward to receive Holy Communion, let us pray to Jesus for those who have hurt us and let us ask Him for forgiveness for anyone we might have hurt. Let us place our trust in Jesus as our king and not in any other princes or earthly powers.
