Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) [Mt
5:13-16]
05.02.2023
The
Call of Disciples as Salt and Light
1. Theme in brief
Our vocation to
season human society and light up the world
2. Focus Statement
A Christian disciple is called to give taste or flavour to human
society, preserve it from evil of corruption and be pure like salt; and be a light
shining from a high place in the darkness of our world.
3. Explanation of
the text
In
today’s gospel Jesus explains the vocation and mission of his disciples in the world or human
society with emphatically repeated words, “you (my disciples) are called to be salt and light”. He
uses three metaphors to explain their vocation or role: (1) salt of
the earth; (2) city built on a hill; and (3) light of the world (5:13-14). Jesus does not tell
his disciples to become like salt or light, as many of us understand his saying.
They already are
salt and light by their faith in him. Now they have to manifest what they
already are. How? Of course, by exhibiting the qualities of salt and light in their
personal conduct,
so that their life may become a witness for him and bring glory to their Father in heaven
(5:16).
The qualities of salt are
these: (1) purity
because of its white colour (if it is “salt of the earth,” that is, rock-salt extracted from the mines); (2) giving taste/flavour
to food, or seasoning
food; and (3) preserving
food (especially meat and fish) from decay or corruption. Jesus tells his
disciples not to lose their saltiness or taste; instead always be true to
their vocation to remain ‘salty.’ He warns them if they lose their seasoning
and preservative qualities, they become useless disciples like insipid salt that is thrown out and
trampled under foot (5:13). Not only here, but in some other parts of the
gospel too Jesus upholds this dictum: Uselessness or fruitlessness always invites disaster
or rejection (cf. Lk 13:9; Jn 15:6).
The disciples are like a
city built on a hill or mountain that cannot be hidden. If this is true about
ancient cities, how much more about modern ones. In modern age such cities or
towns, far from hiding, marvellously shine even from a far distance with all
types of electrical illumination at night. Jesus says that his disciples cannot
hide their faith. If
they practice the beatitudes that were proclaimed in last Sunday’s gospel (Mt 5:1-12),
their life-style, behaviour and action will be clearly visible to others.
Light symbolizes the following:
(1) a thing that shines in such a way that it can be seen by others; (2) a medium
through which darkness
is dispelled; (3) that which reveals what is hidden; (4) that which shows or guides
the way, or becomes a beacon. Now we can understand that Jesus gives his
disciples a mission to light up the world, dispel its darkness, reveal God’s
presence through their lives and guide others to God’s ways or his values. Jesus
further speaks about the foolishness of lighting a lamp and covering
it up with a basket instead of putting it on a high place such as a lampstand,
so that all can see its light (5:15). It is clear that our light is meant for shining
before people and not for hiding.
The ultimate purpose of shining their light is to draw attention to
God who is at work in and through their “good deeds”. Their good conduct or
deeds are like a light shining from a high place attracting people and bringing glory
not to themselves but to God (5:16).
4. Application to
life
In the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-10), Jesus has already given
the blueprint of an exemplary Christian discipleship. In today’s gospel he uses
three metaphors to describe the disciples
who practice the norms laid down in the Beatitudes. They are compared to salt of the earth, city built
on a hill and light of the world. Their
vocation is to give taste to
unsavoury situations, light up the dark areas and shine
brightly so that they are seen from afar. These metaphors are a beautiful
reflection on the true value, preciousness and privileged
nature of our Christian vocation. Our vocation lays upon us
a tremendous responsibility for
the world. As disciples, we are called to live out our identity
in the world by exhibiting the nature of salt and light.
First of all, as salt, all our motives and
intentions must be pure.
Secondly, like salt, we have to add joy to
our daily work and give taste to tasteless
situations in our lives. We are to constantly reflect how we can bring joy into
our life in the midst of routine and monotony of doing the same work every day.
To add flavour to this situation, we are to radiate joy and optimism in
the midst of hardships. Thirdly, we are called to improve the quality of human
life by improving the quality of our service and contributions to human society.
We are to make life tasty not only for ourselves but also for others. Just as
people add salt to food to make it tasty, we are called to add value and quality to the world or
to human lives. If we ourselves lose quality
of life, how can we bring quality in others’ life? Fourthly, like salt, we are
called to preserve our society from moral
corruption, evil and ungodly ways.
Neither salt nor light exist for themselves. The
purpose of salt and light is met only when they are used, poured
out and spent. Similarly, neither Christ’s disciples nor the
Church exist for their own sake but for the world’s. As explained above, salt has
three main qualities: seasoning, purifying
and preserving. Salt keeps food from being insipid
and preserves it from corruption. In order to give taste, salt must come into
contact with food. Similarly, a Christian must touch the issues and concerns of
humans and their society in order to give taste to it, and preserve it from corruption and decay.
If table-salt is kept in a nice sprinkler on the table,
it doesn’t do any good. When it is sprinkled on food and gets dissolved
into it, it adds taste. Similarly, if light is covered and kept hidden,
it cannot show anything to anybody. Only when it is brought out in a dark
place, it can brighten
up the area. The purpose of our Christian vocation is to fulfil our mission
to sprinkle salt all over our society. Far from non-involvement, we are called
to influence
every sphere of human society – social, economic, political and cultural – with
the values of the gospel. Instead of compromising with sin
or evil of the world, our mission is to save the world
from sin.
In the given
gospel text, actually Jesus does not say that we should become “the salt of the
earth” and “light of the world.” By our baptism, we are already are salt, city on hilltop and
light. Jesus motivates and challenges us to live
out this vocation in the modern world and show in our conduct what we have already become.
Hence, we have to manifest to
the world who we actually are by staying salty. The word used for “losing
taste” or becoming “tasteless” in original language (Greek) literally means “to
become foolish.” Christians who do not stay salty or lose
their saltiness are making fools of themselves. Instead of being salt of the
earth, they tend to be “sugar of the earth.” Salt has a bite of its own,
especially when it is applied on a fresh wound. We are called to stay ‘salty’
even when others oppose us for this quality. We should resist the temptation to
make the gospel either a sugar-coated
cake or salt-free potato chips. We can season the earth only
when we live a sugar-free
gospel and sprinkle
sufficient salt on our ‘potato chips,’ that is, our life and social situation.
By the example of
our lives we are called to preserve the world from total moral
corruption and decay. By our
influence
and personal and communitarian example, we save the world from universal evil. We are
called to purify
human society from corruption in mass media, commerce, politics, public life,
and even within the Church. We have an obligation to arrest corruption in our
society by our own purity. We are called to exert a moral influence on our
society.
Jesus warns that
there is a possibility that salt may lose its saltiness or salty taste or
value. Losing zeal, vigour and enthusiasm is also like losing savour. How
do we lose our saltiness or taste? Or, let us put the question positively: How
can we give taste? We can do it by (1) our positive and optimistic way of thinking; (2)
showing enthusiasm and zeal for life and service; (3) radiating joy; (4)
showing a taste or interest in God or in spiritual matters and leading others
to develop a taste for spiritual values; and (4) avoiding destructive criticism and tendencies to become prophets of gloom or doom;
etc. In the beginning of any new venture, job or entering into a new state of
life, we show a lot of initial enthusiasm, but our fervour dies after some time. When we show a lack
of zeal, vitality and joy in our behaviour and action, we become tasteless or
flavourless Christians. Jesus says that such flavourless disciples are useless,
and may be rejected by the world. So we have to ask whether we are worthwhile or worthless Christians.
Christ is the light of
the world (Jn 8:12). As bearers of his light, we too are the light that shines
in the darkness
of the world. In other words, we are called to be a beacon (light in a high place) in the midst of
darkness, chaos, unrest and sadness. Yes, we must be a beacon of truth in a
world of sin, dishonesty and falsehood. Today, Jesus
makes us aware that, as his disciples, it is not enough to attend devotions,
novenas, retreats and healing sessions without any concern for darkness in the world. Our world, in spite of being basically good, has
enough of darkness in it. People who often suffer the darkness of evil in the world get
frustrated. Just as the light burns for others, we live
not only for ourselves, but for others by flashing our light in darkened areas. Like the
sun, we radiate the light of love, service and truth to all around us.
Jesus tells us to
shed light of faith, hope, charity, mercy, peace, justice and honesty or
truthfulness amidst darkness that negates these values. He tells us to light up
our workplace, family and neighbourhood with these values. Bribery, injustice,
exploitation, widespread violence and so many other evils lead the society to decay. Unless
there are some people to uphold moral purity and preservative quality of salt, this
decay will be worse. Therefore, we should not forget to penetrate human society
with the sprinkle of a little bit of salt wherever we go and work. When we dilute the message
of Christ and compromise with evil, or fail to live according to our Christian
vocation we become insipid (flavourless). Then we lose our
opportunity to bear testimony to Christ which is like losing our flavour
and becoming useless disciples.
Both the metaphors of
a city built on hill and a lamp put on an elevated place emphasize the fact
that our Christian vocation is not purely a private affair, but is of public nature.
As followers of Christ we are not secret agents. As nobody dreams of putting a
light under a bushel, we have to be sure that the reason for our existence as
Christians is to give light to those who surround us. Our faith is not meant
for hiding;
it must be shown not so much by the cross we wear on our chests, but in our
good conduct or loving service. In the area where I work as a missionary, a
number of villages are called ‘Tongritoli’
or ‘Pahartoli’ (meaning a village on
a hill or mountain). Can such villages hide from being seen from far? We are often tempted to hide our
light in the following manner: by not speaking when we must tell the truth; by
compromising with the values of the world; by colluding with the evil; by
closing our eyes on the needs of others, especially of the poor; etc.
If we really want to
be salt and light, we must behave and act differently from the general current of our
society. People notice it. They may even ask us: “Why do you behave
differently? Why don’t you follow the crowd?” Whenever we bear witness to
Christ through our good conduct and works of mercy others recognize Christ in
us and it becomes the cause of giving glory to our heavenly Father and not to
ourselves. If so, where is the place for arrogance, working for one’s own name
and fame or taking credit for oneself?
5. Response to God's Word
Are we really
living out our vocation and mission as Christian disciples? How do we fulfill
our call to manifest “saltiness” in our workplace, neighbourhood, family and
community? What are the dark areas in our family life, friendships, work
relations, and neighbourhood? Do we try to make our Christian identity visible
through our good conduct or keep our faith in hiding? Are our motives pure, or
selfish and insincere? Do we withdraw from good work when people reject,
ridicule and oppose us because of our ‘salty’ nature? Do we succumb to public
pressure to accept corrupt ways of the world? In the past, when and how did we
hide our faith?
6. A prayer
O Lord, give us the courage to preserve our society from moral corruption, evil and ungodly ways. As bearers of your light, grant that we may shine brightly in the darkness of the world. Give us the grace not to hide our light out of fear of opposition and criticism. May we attract people to you by our good conduct or deeds and bring glory to you. Amen.
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