HOMILY FOR THE 5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A.
THEME: GIVE FLAVOUR AND SHINE.
BY: Fr. Gerald M. Musa.
Isaiah 58:7-10; Matthew 5:13-16;
Tony Castle recounts the story of a teacher employed in a non-Christian school with a strict order not to utter any word about Christianity during school hours. He obeyed the standing order by not mentioning Christianity. However, his life was such a shining example in the school. Without his knowledge, 40 students signed up to depart from their traditional religion, and twenty-five of these went to train in a Christian School to be pastoral agents (Preachers of the Good News). The teacher’s approach matches the words of the poem which says:
You are writing a Gospel,
A chapter each day
By the deeds that you do,
And the words that you say.
Men read what you write,
If it is false or it’s true.
Now what is the Gospel
According to you.
Jesus teaches us the power of a good example when he says: “You are the salt of the earth.” As an eloquent speaker, He uses simple examples or metaphors, such as salt and light to drive his message home and this is why ordinary people as well as sophisticated people can easily understand and relate to his message. Salt and light are essential elements that people of every tribe and culture can identify with. No wonder the Romans say, “There is nothing more useful than the sun (light) and salt” (nil sole et sale utilius).
Salt is very useful in our diet. We may moderate our intake of salt, but we can hardly live entirely without salt. Salt appears in different forms in the food and fruits that we eat. Salt is used for various other reasons: to give flavour/taste to food and to preserve meat. Salt is also used for healing, especially as an anti-bacterial. Salt also can induce thirst. In temperate countries, salt is used during winter and snow to de-ice the roadways and make them safer for vehicles.
Several passages in scripture speak about the usefulness of salt. The scriptures speak about offering animals with salt (Leviticus 2:13), a covenant of salt in Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5. The prophet Elisha used salt to purify polluted water and made it portable (2 Kings 2:20-21).
“You are the light of the world,” Jesus emphatically says to his followers. We cannot overemphasise the importance of light in the world, but we know that when we are enveloped in darkness, we tend to stumble and fall. In his wisdom, God created light first “when the earth was waste and void and when darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2-3). Light is not only essential for human beings and other animals but is also vital for plants. Biology tells us that photosynthesis is a process where plants depend on sunlight to convert light energy into chemical energy. We receive light through major sources such as the sun, moon, and stars and other means such as lamps, candles, electricity, etc.
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It appears confusing to hear Jesus say your light must shine before others. Some listeners will quickly ask: How can we let our light shine before others when in Matthew 6:1-4 Jesus warns against practicing your piety (prayers, almsgiving, and fasting) before others or to be seen by others? We can easily reconcile these two passages of scripture that seem to be contradictory by saying Jesus discourages the sort of piety that attracts attention to you – that which gives glory to the creature and relegates the creator to the background. On the other hand, He encourages the piety and charity that gives glory to God who is the source of grace and providence. This kind of piety is that which says, “Not to us Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory (Psalm 115:1).
There are good people (people of light) who refuse to associate with bad people (people in darkness). On the contrary, those who live in light are to share the light with those who are in darkness and not just cluster together and insult and vilify people in darkness. St. Francis of Assisi prayed: “Where there is darkness, let me sow light.” The Psalmist says, “The just man is a light in the darkness to the upright” (Psalm 112:4).
Jesus is not asking his followers to be like thunder and lightning to the world because these can be destructive. But he asks them to be the kind of light that prophet Isaiah speaks about “the light that breaks forth like the dawn – slowly, steadily and surely. Please note also that Jesus invites his listeners to be salt of the earth and not to be pillars of salt like the wife of Lot. To be a pillar of salt is tantamount to being an extremist who repels others, rather than attracting others to the faith. When one turns into a pillar of salt, he is so hardened and fixated that he is neither useful to himself nor useful to others.
More still, the prophet Isaiah enlightens us about what it means to be light to the world: “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and homeless; clothe the naked when you see them and do not turn your back on your own.” As Salt and light make a difference in food and surroundings, so are all people called to make a difference, to influence and make an impact in the world around them. Since salt makes one thirsty, all people are called not only to make the world tasty (a better place) but also to make the world thirst for righteousness. Jesus desires that everyone becomes a model for a good life, charity, and justice, a model of good manners, a model worthy of emulation. Some people say to you “You are the light of my life” because through you or with you they find hope, joy, and peace and you have offered them an opportunity to renew their lives and a reason to live.
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