Un-Quiet Word for Today, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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"You are the salt of the earth.
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."Matthew 5:13
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We cannot be insipid Christians!
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Jesus is a master teacher. He knows how to communicate profound truths and values, complex teachings, using everyday simple language that the people of his time clearly understood. Today’s gospel message is for the disciples - those who would like to follow him and to be like him, hence the emphasis is on ‘you’.
He crafts his message today around two items: ‘salt’ and ‘a lamp’. Salt in the ancient world was an indispensable commodity. Often used even as a currency to barter goods. Livelihoods depended on salt. It was used as a preservative, a purifying material, it has a medicinal quality to it, and of course it is used in cooking and preparing meals.
When cooking, it is used to add taste and flavor to the food. Too much salt is bad, but also too little salt makes the food bland. So salt must be measured right so that it does not draw 'attention to itself', but rather best comes out in the taste. It does not need to be noticed only in its function.
So, what good is salt if it doesn’t function to season the food? It is useless and to be trampled underfoot [those listening to him must have immediately understood him].
The message is meant for the disciples. A faithful disciple is one who demonstrates his faith by his/her lifestyle, life choices and decisions, but that these do not stop at him or her . The actions of Christians is truly to ‘season’ the world. By what we do and how we live the gospel, the world around us is transformed. A truly lived Christian life is and can be the ‘light’ of the world. Faithful Christians cannot be insipid Christians.
And so what are we to do?
The prophet Isaiah says to those who want to practice ‘fasting’ as a way of praying:Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
A true prayer is one that leads and moves one to put in practice or to go beyond self to the other.
Isaiah says, "For your prayer to be heard, choose to notice those that need God’s presence and bring it to them. Choose to notice the hungry, the oppressed, the homeless and do not turn your back on them." Oftentimes, Christians must choose to act not as the world acts, turning its back of others. Season the world with your good works. Then your light will break like the dawn.
Has your faith been empty of actions lately? What do you do to demonstrate that you are a Christian? Has your devotion and prayer always stopped only at you? Salt cannot bring attention to self but to the other (the food is seasoned) .
Are we oftentimes afraid to make public our beliefs and values? Why? How do they know we are Christians?
The light of the Gospel we received, we being the lighted lamp, cannot be hidden under a bed! Then what good is it? In the one roomed houses of Jesus’ Palestine, this was so understood. You need light up at a light stand to illuminate the room but most especially draw attention to the other objects in the room. The light helps one navigate the room better.
How might we Christians demonstrating our faith ‘help others’ navigate the world? How does our silence often darkness the world? Silence to evil, injustice, intolerance, etc. I see and probably would do something, but I keep quiet!
The challenge is: let your faith be contagious. Let it not stop at you!
A married life lived well brings the spouses to a true concern of one another and a way of teaching others. The gifted and talented who meet the needs of others as they reach out to others, reach out to God. Leaders who reject having their positions as a source of self-aggrandizement but helping others, transform the world.
The Eucharist has it setting only in community. To break bread with Christ is to break bread with our sisters and brothers. May all who share the body of Christ refuse to be insipid Christians or disciples. Let the light of the Gospel shine through our words and actions and transform the earth!
- Fr. Anthony Mpagi
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All About the Mass
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Readings of the Mass
LISTEN HERE to the Audio Recordings of the Readings of February 5th, 2023, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
SELECT HERE for the Readings of February 5th, 2023, Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
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Reflections
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Our Catholic Community News
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