"You are the salt . . . you are the light"
Matthew 5: 13-16
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020523.cfm
We are warned that too much salt is
unhealthy in our diet. 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. So 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. 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 in the midst of 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.
So too 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, exhibiting no fervor or excitement about following the Lord,
then why would anyone join us? What
would be the attraction? Where would be the flavor?
A Christian who simply keeps his faith quiet and private,
never sharing 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; 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.
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.
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?
I ran across the following reflection from the writing of
Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was martyred during the celebration of Mass as a
very salty and clear witness to the faith in 1980 in El Salvador:
Light from Light
“A Christian community is evangelized
in order to evangelize.
A light is lit
in order to give light.
A candle is not lit to be put under a bushel,
said Christ.
It is lit and put up high
in order to give light.
That is what a true community is like.
. . . It is not just an individual conversion,
but a community conversion.
It is a family that believes,
a group that accepts God . . .”
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