Cycle A - Year II:  

9 February 2020: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Color: Green)

Readings:

First Reading:        Isaiah 58:7-10

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians: 2:1-5

Gospel:  Please Read  Matthew 5:13-16

"To be salt and light of the world!"

We live in very challenging times in the Philippines, when legitimate dissent and criticism of public governance and corruption are being stifled with threat and intimidation, and even insults and shaming.  And sadly, it appears to be orchestrated, or even encouraged, from the highest echelon of the government.

The Catholic Church and its leaders seem to be the "favorite" target, and often singled out when Catholic leaders stand up to protect human life and dignity.  Our leaders are verbally abused and ridiculed.  Should the Church just keep silent and cower in fear?

The Gospel message for this  Sunday encourages us how to deal with the situation.  The evangelist Matthew shares with us this more famous discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ on discipleship.  By using images of daily life, with simple and direct words, Jesus makes known which is the mission and reason for being the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, even or especially in challenging times.  

In the Gospel narrative, Jesus used ordinary images of His time, like salt and light to convey extraordinary truths.  Now, what does salt and light have to teach us about God and His kingdom here on earth?

Well, salt does not exist for itself, but to give flavor to food.  Likewise, light does not exist for itself, but for the service of people.  Let us reflect on their wisdom.

In the ancient world, salt was considered a commodity of value.  People traded with it very much like we trade gold and stocks in our present time.  But apart from its commercial value, more importantly salt has its intrinsic worth of giving flavor to food and preserving it from spoiling, especially in hot climate, before the invention of electricity and refrigeration.

And Jesus used the example of salt to show His disciples how they were to live in the world.  This means, that as salt purifies and penetrates, so His disciples must be like salt in the world of human society to purify, preserve and penetrate that society for the kingdom of God and of righteousness and peace. So that as salt of the earth we must preserve our society from getting spoiled by the corruption of sin.

The second example, how does the image of light and the lamp be an inspiration for the disciples?

The comparison is pretty obvious.  For nobody lights a candle just to hide it.  Before the wonder of electricity, lamps in ancient world served a vital function by making it possible for people to see and work in the dark.  Even to this day, lamps continue to provide that purpose in our rural areas that have yet to benefit from electricity.

So then, a Christian community should be light and it should enlighten.  It should not be afraid to show the good that it does.  But again it does not do it to make itself seen, but what it does can be seen by the world.

Our Lord Jesus used the example of lamp to point out how the disciples are to live in the light of God's truth and love.  Just as natural light illuminates the darkness and enables us to see visually, so the light of Christ shines in the hearts of believers and enables them to see the heavenly reality of God's kingdom even now in our earthly journey.

In sum, we reflected that salt does not exist for itself, nor the light exist for itself.  So then this is how a Christian community should be.  Its mission is to preserve humanity and the world from the stain of sin, and enlighten it to see and experience the kingdom of God here on earth.

So let us pray, that we remain unafraid to proclaim God's kingdom here on earth, that we become like salt that preserves and purifies our society from moral decay, that we are strengthened in our mission to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world.

And in the very words of Jesus, "Your light must shine in people's sight, so that seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in Heaven." Amen.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!