Cycle A - Year I:  

5 February 2023: 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 

We are the salt and light of the world!

Each new day is God's gift to us, but it is all up to us to make this gift the most beautiful day of our life. Today's Gospel proclamation helps us to make our gift a beautiful and productive day that glorifies the Giver.

The evangelist St. Matthew shares with us today's more famous discourse of our Lord Jesus Christ on discipleship.  By using images of daily life, with simple and direct words, Jesus makes known our mission and reason for being followers of the Lord, especially in most challenging times.

Our Lord uses ordinary images of His time, like salt and light in this case, to convey extraordinary truths to make our daily living pleasing to God.  What does salt and light have to teach us about God and His kingdom here on earth?

Salt was considered a commodity of value in the ancient world. People traded with it very much like we trade gold and stocks in our present time. 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.

Jesus uses 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 our mission is to preserve our society from getting spoiled by the corruption of sin.

On 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 rural areas that have yet to benefit from electricity.

For us to become the light of the world as Jesus commands, we are supposed to first possess the virtues of Christ, hear His teachings, and follow Him; secondly, we must become good examples to others by exhibiting and practicing all good things that our Lord taught us.

That is why a Christian community should be light and it should enlighten.  It should not be afraid to show that good that it does for the world to see and follow.

Now, our good deeds must be visible to everyone so that God can be glorified in our works and love for others. Our mission is to become good role models for others, so that glory and honor will be to the Almighty God.  Our Lord Jesus tells us that we will be of no use to the kingdom of God if our good deeds do not make others to glorify God.   

Jesus' final word for us today: "Your light must shine in people's sight, so that seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in Heaven." (Mt 5:16)  Amen.    

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

Ad Jesum per Mariam!