"You are the salt of the earth . . . you are the light of the world"
Matthew 5: 13-16
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020826.cfm
We are warned that
too much salt in our diet is unhealthy.
We look at the salt content of food we buy and may be shocked to see how
much is contained in canned soup for example. Yet we know that we need a
certain amount in our diet. We use salt
to enhance the flavor of food, but we’re also concerned about its effect on our
blood pressure and water retention. Still, I like salt on my food – what about
those salt and vinegar potato chips?
Delicious, in moderation of course. Too much of a good thing can be bad.
In the same way, we
are concerned about the general cost of energy, so we use new forms of light
that are developed for lower energy yet shine with equal brightness such as in
LED lighting. Our comparisons these days seem based more in science or common
everyday use with no particular life changing qualities. Yet from the Gospel
today we hear something more “earthy” as Jesus often used as metaphors in his
teaching.
“You are the salt
of the earth . . . You are the light of the world.” Interesting comparisons Jesus makes in the
Gospel this Sunday from Mt 5: 13-16: salt and light. As last Sunday’s Gospel
opened the famous Sermon on the Mount, so today we hear it continued in this
imagery. In these passages Jesus explains the quality of discipleship and how
we live out that vocation as witnesses for Christ amid a flavorless world.
We may think of
ourselves as compared to other things such as a particular animal as in “gentle
as a lamb” or “strong as an ox,” I generally haven’t heard that we compare
ourselves to a common daily flavor enhancer such as salt. Likewise, to imagine that we shine like a
light may require some explanation.
Jesus’ use of these
images is important for he means them in a different context. He means this as
a reminder of our need for true conversion. Here, the Gospel continues the
image of Jesus as a wise and practical teacher. He offers guidance on the
Christian life for his followers to those who will hear him and pay attention.
After speaking of the “poor in spirit” and the “merciful” and “peacemakers,” he
now indicates the effect of living in such a way as his disciples in his use of
salt and light metaphors.
In ancient times,
salt would flavor food but was also precious as a food preservative and was
even used as payment for services rendered. We may imagine it was a kind of
gold for barter and trade and valued widely. One would be “worth their weight
in salt.” Salt had many implications
for its value and usefulness.
Jesus reminds us to
not be “bland” and lukewarm Christians but give “flavor” to our Christian
faith. Preserve the faith passed on to
you and be energized by it. Bring the
Gospel into a bland world searching for meaning and purpose. Recognize the
importance of attracting others to follow the Lord and his Church. If we Christians/Catholics are just blah,
same old same old, or as Bishop Barron has famously described: “beige
Catholics,” exhibiting no fervor or excitement about following the Lord, then
why would anyone join us? What would be
the attraction? Where would be the salt?
A Christian who
simply keeps his faith quiet and private, our beautiful contemplative communities
aside, or one who never shares in the joy of the Gospel or being a man/woman of
conviction in the way of the Lord, is ineffective and tasteless. Jesus implies: “But if salt loses its
taste, with what can it be seasoned? It
is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Ouch but true!
By comparison, if
only we would be as committed to, as excited about our faith as so many are
about sports events or politics, (for many their secular “religion”); just
think what a powerfully “salty” community we might have. Just think of the Super Bowl or the Olympics
or a favorite college football team.
While a good game is indeed fun, we sure have no tasteless fans
there. How does such an event compare
with your experience of Sunday liturgy or your latest encounter with a fellow
parishioner or your most recent discussion about the faith? What role did you
play and how flavorful were you with another?
While no one wants to turn Sunday Mass into a wild football game still
the point is made. Where’s the conviction and the enthusiasm for what God has
done and continues to do?
The image of light is clearer. Jesus teaches, “. . . your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” so that others can see and be attracted to the Lord. Not fascinated with ourselves and all the good we supposedly do but rather find a welcome to Christ and his way in the Church.
The first reading
from Isaiah offers concrete ways to give flavor and light to our faith:
“Share
your bread with the hungry; shelter the homeless; clothe the naked when you see
them . . . then your light shall break forth like the dawn . . .” Love
lived out in concrete behavior towards others is the point Isaiah makes and
that becomes the light we shine. As one author described, “Christianity with
work boots.”
So our readings this
Sunday have an especially practical application to how we live out the Gospel
values laid before us. How we exist in this world with purpose and meaning. In
the world of rabid independence, gender confusion, and questions about what constitutes
the human person, our light must shine on both what is good and indicate what
is not or what is false.
This is a kind of
wisdom literature from the Son of God himself. To be a genuine and effective
disciple of the Lord and an effective Catholic witness to the faith, we must be
distinctive salt and a shining light, each in our own way according to our ability.
Our weekly assembly
makes this clear when we refer to the Holy Eucharist as “food for the journey,”
the Bread of Life and we are sent forth at the end to “Announce the Gospel of
the Lord” or to be Christians who are “glorifying the Lord by your life.” In
the end it is Jesus himself who sends us out on his mission. How salty will we make ourselves and how
bright will we shine?
As the well-known
contemplative in action from the 16th century, St. Teresa of Avila,
famously reminded us:
Christ
has no body but yours,
No
hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours
are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion
on this world,
Yours
are the feet with
Which
he walks to do good,
Yours
are the hands,
With
which he blesses all the world,
Yours
are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours
are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ
has no body now but yours,
No
hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours
are the eyes with which
he
looks compassion on this world.
Christ
has no body now on earth but yours.
(Teresa of Avila)
