Are you the salt for the earth, the light for the world?
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time A
Isaiah 58:7-10 Psalm 111: 4-9, Rv.4 1Cor 2: 1-5
Share your bread with the hungry and shelter the homeless poor.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright; he is generous, merciful and just.
The only knowledge I claimed was about Jesus and about him as crucified.
You are the salt of the earth.
Matthew 5: 13-16
'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet.
15 No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.
16 In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.
Be the light and be the salt where you are.
We have come to think of a ‘vocation’ as a special calling. We talk of those with a vocation and presumably of those ‘without a vocation’. We think of a ’vocation’ to priesthood or to religious life and that people with a vocation are called to live a ‘holy life’. This may be true, but it is not the way Jesus and the New Testament think of ‘vocation’. A vocation is a special calling but Jesus calls each one in a special way. Most are unaware that they have a vocation.
Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth”. Salt makes a difference and it is clearly noticed. Likewise Jesus says his disciples are to make a difference in the world. Each disciple is to make a difference. Many do make a difference, but denying their discipleship they make a harmful difference: they drink, are unfaithful in their marriage, they steal and cheat.
Jesus doesn’t ask us to do something special but to be someone special. When we have faith in Jesus and want to obey him in love, we should not go and do something. Rather we should become someone who out of love for Jesus transforms the place where we live and work. Through our being members of his Body, Jesus is able to act and speak through us. Through you Jesus is present in your home and in your place of work.
The prophet Isaiah mentions some ways to make a difference: share your bread, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, do not turn away from your own, be a person of integrity, break the yoke, free yourself from hatred and revenge. In a word be a person of generosity and honesty who practices justice with love for all.
On Sundays we gather to praise the Lord Jesus and be nourished by his Eucharist and Word. Then on Monday we scatter, going to every nook and corner. We are the Body of Christ and each of us is a member of his Body. It is your vocation ‘to be Jesus’ where you live and where you work, “to live just as Jesus Christ lived” (1 John 2:6).
To fulfil your vocation you need to constantly reflect on God’s Word, constantly be in union with Jesus in prayer. You must see yourself as the ‘sacrament of Christ Jesus’ presence’ in your home, in your work place and when you enjoy your recreation. You are to be the visible likeness of the invisible Christ.
The first thing to do is to realize your vocation in your heart and then you will be able to realize it in your daily life. If you can make Jesus present, then just as he made a difference in Palestine so through you he will do so in your world.
Father, as Jesus was your visible likeness may I be the visible likeness of Jesus.
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