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Salt and Light – Discipleship in action
The Gospel passage presented to us this weekend follows immediately after the announcement of the Beatitudes (we heard it during the last Sunday’s liturgy). Today, Jesus builds on the Beatitudes by reminding us of our vocation and mission as Christians. With unforgettable, down-to-earth images, Jesus says that we have a double mission with respect to everyone else: to be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World. Notice, first what he does not say: Jesus does not call us the salt or light of the Church, because our mission is to go out and transform the whole world, beginning, of course, with being transformed by Christ within the Church. If we’re not going out and striving to make disciples, we are not really faithful disciples. If we’re not seeking to transform the world, we’re still clueless followers. Likewise, Jesus does not say, “You must become the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World.” He says, rather, “You are the Salt and Light.” This is very significant. By our baptism, we have already received this identity and vocation. In the Baptismal Rite, our Baptismal candle is lit from the Paschal Candle showing that Christ, the Light of the World, has passed His light on to us to be kept burning brightly. And in the Extraordinary Form of Baptism, salt is still put into the baby’s or catechumen’s mouth in order to remind them that they are to be salt for the earth.
The key for us is whether we are faithful to this call and live this mission, whether we live the beatitudes, whether we live as salt and light. Jesus says today that our salt can lose its saltiness and our light can be hidden, in which case it’s not doing any good. So, our Christian lives can lose their special Christian character. We know that this has happened to many people we know.
When Jesus used the image of salt, he would have meant how a disciple must be valuable and precious like the salt. In the ancient world, salt was a precious commodity used for flavoring and for preserving food. The Romans considered it to be the purest matter as it came from sun and the sea. Salt was used as a form of wage and hence the word ‘salary’ is derived from ‘sal’ (payment by salt). Salt was also used in the ritual offerings in worship even in the Temple of Jerusalem. Rock salt packed the outdoor ovens to bake bread. Over a period of time, the rock disintegrates as salt burns up. Then it is thrown out on the pathways as it does not heat up the oven. Jesus uses this example to stress the need to maintain our bond with Him. We do so, first, by a sacramental life, staying united to Him in the Holy Eucharist, binding ourselves regularly to Him by His mercy, living a Holy Life, staying united to Him in charity, and especially remaining united with him in prayer.
In his second imagery, Jesus emphasizes the essential visibility of the Christian. Light is a rich image running throughout the entire Bible. Jesus tells us in the Gospel that the way we give off His light is through deeds of genuine Christian love that leads others, in seeing them, to glorify God. That’s what we see in today’s first reading. Isaiah tells us our “light shall break forth like the dawn” and the “glory of the Lord shall be [our] rear guard” when we “share [our] bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless, clothe the naked, when [we] see them, and do not turn [our] back on [our] own,” when we “remove from [our] midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech,” when we “bestow [our] bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted.” When we live charitably in this way, he reiterates, “then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” Christ-like love is the light the just man, the good woman, radiates. It has been said: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for good people to do nothing!”. Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O.