We are the salt and the light of the world

We are the salt and the light of the world

Fr. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Homily for the 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

African Catholic Community in Memphis

February 6, 2011

In the John 8: 12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

In Matthew 5:14-16, the Lord says to his followers, “You are the light of the world…” (Therefore) let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When I was going through the initial formation to become a religious priest, I got a call one warm afternoon from a high school girl named Loretta. As soon as I picked her call, she said, “Brother Marcel, please I have a burning question I want to ask you.” “Go ahead!” I said to her. “Who is a Christian and how do we know who is a Christian?” she asked. For a moment, I was little bit rattled by her question because I did not know the reason for the question. I have been close to her and her family for about two years, so for a moment I said to myself, “I hope I have not done or said anything unconsciously that scandalized her, hence the question?” Well, I still answered her question. I told her that a Christian is that person who is kind, merciful, honest, god-fearing, compassionate, tolerant, who struggles to overcome his or her weaknesses in order to become better than anyone else. I also told her that a Christian is that person who tries to be like Jesus. I concluded by saying to her, “If you want to know who a Christian is, then look for those virtues.” Then I asked her why she asked the question in the first place. She now told me about a woman I also know. She was childless, but was living with one small boy. This woman virtually slept in church. She attended every activity in church, and was even a staunch member of a Catholic prayer ministry. She was always with her rosary and her Bible. Sometimes she dressed like a nun, and you can easily mistake her to be one. But in all these, she was unbelievably wicked to the little boy living with her. She starved him regularly at the least provocation, and even made him sleep outside the house sometimes. There was nothing Christian with the manner she treated the boy. She maltreated and hurt him so bad that he looked so emaciated. He would give him heavy loads to carry for her and made him walk a long distance to where she had a shop. I tried once to talk to her about her cruel treatment of the boy but she scolded and warned me sternly to stay clear. This woman (usually called Mama Ibe) was everything to this boy (his name is Ibe) but good and caring. She wasn’t a salt and a light to him. So the young Loretta wondered how Mama Ibe could spend so much time in church praying and listening to the gospel preached yet maltreated the small boy living with her so badly. I remember at the end of the conversation she said to me, “If what you just said is who a Christian is, then Mama Ibe is not one. She is simply deceiving herself and others.”

There is another story of a father who was teaching his son what a Christian should be like. He taught his son that a Christian is the salt of the earth and the light of the world and few other things. At the end of the lesson, the father realized that he has dug a big hole for himself because the little boy then asked him, “But daddy, how come I have never met one of these Christians?”

Dearest sisters and brothers like Loretta and the little boy our Lord Jesus Christ challenges us today with two very vivid images of what it means to be a Christian. The Lord says to us, “You are the salt of the earth,” “You are the light of the world.”

Let’s look at salt for a moment. Salt is something that is very common, and unless for medical reasons, it’s something we put in everything we cook. Of all the seasonings we use for cooking, salt is the most important. Without salt in a food, it lacks real taste. Salt makes our food taste better. It is a seasoning that enhances the flavor of food. Jesus wants us to be the seasoning that spices up life. Life is not all about gloom, doom and fear. Wherever there’s gloom, we are to sow hope, hope in the Lord. Christians should be the most optimistic people in the world. We are optimistic because He lives. Because our Redeemer lives, we can face tomorrow. We are optimistic because we have Jesus in our lives. With Jesus in our lives, we will always rejoice and be glad. 1 John 5:12 says “Whoever has the Son has life.” Jesus wants us to bring hope where there is cynicism. The Lord wants us to sow joy where there is sadness. In our depressed world where so many people are depressed, the Christian man or woman should be serene and full of life. And by your serenity, you teach and show others the Reason (Jesus) for your peace and stability. Even in the face of trial and tribulation, the Lord wants us to speak with Job in Job 19:25, “I know my Redeemer lives and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.” Salt brings out the taste of food. Our Lord wants us to be the flavor that brings out the best in everyone. Jesus wants us to bring out the best in us, and the best in the world he has created. He wants us to give human life a meaning.

In the ancient world, salt was also used as preservatives. Before refrigeration and canning became the order of the day, meat and fish were preserved either dried or smoked or it was heaped with salt. Salt was therefore used as preservatives, to preserve meat and fish for a long time. It was used to preserve and keep them fresh and free from corruption. Dearest beloved, Jesus wants us to preserve the world from becoming bad. The Lord wants us to preserve the family, to preserve human life, to preserve the church, to preserve our bodies, to preserve truth. Jesus wants us to be preservatives that can preserve the biblical standard of morality. He wants us to have a certain antiseptic influence on life. We must influence the world and not the other way round. In this fleeting time we have, we must strive to be preservatives, preserving those age-long truths and faith of our Fathers. We should not lower the standard Jesus has set for us just for us to belong in this crazy world. We can accommodate the other without tolerating behaviors that go contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are called to be the cleansing antiseptic in our communities. Our presence should bring about the defeat of evil, corruption, and immorality.

Salt was also used as curative. It has some medicinal value. Too much of salt can trigger high blood pressure, but salt deficiency can cause so many other diseases too. Before modern medicine, salt was used as antiseptic. Salt was often poured into an open wound to clean any impurities. Salt cures. By asking us to be the salt of the earth, Jesus is also asking us to be healers. He wants us to heal and cure the brokenhearted, the depressed, the lonely, the hungry, the bereaved, and those who experience the tragedy of life. As followers of Christ, we should not be indifferent to the pain of the other just because it is not happening to us. When one person suffers, we all suffer. Remember, we are the Body of Christ. The pain in the hand affects the entire body. The tragedy of the other should be the tragedy of all. Indifference is not a virtue. Silence is golden but not when you notice discrimination and maltreatment of another person. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” We are called to be curative agents, agents of healing. We are to spread the message of hope and forgiveness, the message of our Savior who heals all who are hurt and wounded. The best cure we can render to our offenders is forgiveness. Salt also creates thirst. We are called to make people thirst for Jesus, thirst for righteousness and goodness. We are called to season the world with the flavor of grace, mercy, kindness, friendship and decency.

Jesus also said we are the light of the world, and we are to put our light on the lamp-stand so that everyone in the house can see it. So the Lord is not only asking us to preserve the world from deteriorating, he also wants us to influence the world positively, to shed light on the darkness of the world. But remember that the light that radiates or shines from us is the light of Christ. We have no light of our own. Psalm 36: 9 says “For you (Lord) are the fountain of life, and in your light we see light.” So what we say or do can allow the light of Christ to shine or hinder or dim it from shinning brightly enough. In the gospel of John 9:5, Jesus says “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” By faith we believe that Jesus is still present in the world. He is still with us and in us. So, if his light is not shinning out, then we are the reason why it is not. As I already said, our words and action can allow the light of Christ to shine out or hide it from shinning.

Now when our Lord said we must be light, what exactly does he mean? Let’s remember that a light is something that is easily seen. The houses in Palestine in the time of Jesus were very dark because they had just one circular window not more than eighteen inches across. Normally the light stood on the lamp-stand. During the day when everyone is going out, for safety’s reason, the light was taken away from its lamp-stand and put under an earthen bushel so that it could burn without risk until they come back. The reason why the light is not always put off is because it was not an easy task to put on the light. There was no electricity or matches then. The primary duty of the light of the lamp was to be seen.

Christianity is something that should be seen. A Christian should be seen and known. There can be nothing like secret discipleship. Our Christianity should be visible to all. Have you ever noticed the way some Catholics pray when they are in a restaurant? They virtually bury their heads between their lap and under the table as they rush in making the sign of the cross. Obviously they do not want those around to notice that they are praying. What a shame! Do not forget the words of Jesus in Matthew 10:33, “Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven.” Again, Christianity should not be visible only in the Church. A Christianity that stops at the church is worthless. A Catholic should be a Catholic in the factory, in the restaurant, in the workshop, in the classroom, in the kitchen, in the office, in the golf-course, in the hospital, in the library, and everywhere. St Augustine once closed his Mass with these words, “I am about to lay aside this book and you are soon going away, each to your own business. It has been good for us to share our common light, good to have enjoyed ourselves, good to have been glad together. When we part from one another, let us not depart from Him.”

Dearest beloved, a light is a guide. The Lord wants us to be a shinning example to others. Light exposes and reveals. The light of Christ exposes our need for salvation. We are also to expose and reveal to others their need of salvation of the Savior. The light of Christ shinning in and through us reveals where the dangers are and where safety, direction and new life can be found. Since light is a guide, and Jesus wants us to be the light of the world, it means that the Lord wants us to be the guide of the nations. We are to be the voice of the Lord speaking the words of prophet Isaiah in 55:4, “Say to those who are fearful hearted, do not be afraid, your God is coming to destroy your enemies, he will come to save you.”

Today’s gospel is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel which was the Beatitude. After giving that sermon which is regarded as the greatest sermons of Jesus Christ, the Lord continues today by saying, “You are the salt of the earth”, “You are light of the world.” And I will end my homily by connecting last week gospel reading to today’s gospel reading:

The disciple who is poor in spirit is the light of the world; in humility he radiates the humility of Jesus. Even in your riches and wealth, be humble. Jesus is owner of everything, yet he was humble. Psalm 24: 1 tells us that “The earth and everything in the world belong to God.” In Haggai 2: 8 the Lord says, “The silver and the gold are mine.”

The disciple who mourns and grieves for the faithlessness in the world is the salt of the earth. With passion and zeal for the God, she yearns to give life a meaning.

The disciple who is meek is the light of the world because he lets Jesus and others come first before him. And you know, Jesus, others, and you produce JOY.

The disciple who hungers and thirsts for righteousness is the salt of the earth; salt brings thirst. She thirsts for Jesus and makes others thirst for him as well.

The disciple who is merciful is the light of the world. In this wicked world where there is a great passion for litigation, he shines his guiding light of tolerance and forgiveness.

The disciple who’s clean of heart is the salt of the earth. Salt is a preservative in the time of Jesus. From a clean heart, she strives to preserve truth, honesty and life.

The disciple who is a peacemaker is the light of the world. Deeply rooted in the Prince of peace, he acts not like a peace-breaker or a peace-fakers but a peacemaker.

Finally the faithful servants of the Lord who are the salt of the earth and the light of the world are usually persecuted for their uprightness. But do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but cannot destroy the soul. Remember, our God is coming with vengeance to destroy our enemies. Because you are the salt of the earth, because you are the light of the world, you will preserve your life here and hereafter; your light will also shine till eternity. The good that we do lives after us. At the end of every Mass, the presiding priest says, “Go, our celebration is ended.” With these words we are all sent to go and live out what we have prayed, sung and heard. We are sent forth to go out and add seasoning and flavor to the lives of many, and to let the light of Christ shine through us.

God bless you all!