Light Of The World And Salt Of The Earth
Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR
Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN
Sunday, February 8, 2026
When I was in the early stages of formation to become a priest, I got a call one warm afternoon from a high school girl named Loretta. As soon as I picked up, she said, “Brother Marcel, please, I have a question I want to ask you.” “Go ahead!” I said. “Who is a Christian, and how do we know who is a Christian?” she asked. For a moment, I was a little rattled by her question because I did not know why she was asking. I had been close to her family for about two years, so I thought, “I hope I have not done or said anything unconsciously that scandalized her, hence the question?” Answering her, I said, “First, a Christian is someone who is baptized. Secondly, the person should emulate and live like Christ, who is love, kind, merciful, and compassionate. None of us is perfect, but a Christian strives to overcome their weaknesses and become better each day.” I concluded by saying to her, “If you are looking for a Christian who is a Christian in name and deed, look for those virtues I just mentioned. A Christian who embodies them is a good Christian.” Then I asked her, “But why the question?” She told me about a woman I also know. She was childless but living with one small boy. This woman virtually slept in church. She attended every church activity 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 could easily mistake her for one. But in all this, she was unbelievably mean to the little boy living with her. She regularly starved him at the slightest provocation and even made him sleep outside the house. There was nothing Christian about the way she treated the boy. She maltreated and hurt him so badly that he looked emaciated. I once tried to talk to her about her cruel treatment of the boy, but she scolded me and sternly warned me to stay clear. This woman (usually called Mama Ibe) was everything to this boy (his name is Ibe). But 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 maltreat the small boy living with her so badly. 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.”
In today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:13-16), Jesus describes who his followers are meant to be: “You are the salt of the earth,” “You are the light of the world,” “You are a city set on a mountain that cannot be hidden.” Salt, light, and a city. What do they have in common? All of them exist for something beyond themselves. What does salt do? It is added to the food we eat. Unless for medical reasons, we put it in everything we cook. Of all the seasonings we use for cooking, salt is the most important. Without salt, food lacks real taste. It makes our food taste much better. It is a seasoning that enhances flavor. The holy grail of the Church is to spice up the world. What does that look like? In the great prayer of St. Francis, we pray, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.” Jesus wants us to be the flavor that brings out the best in others and makes life a bit better.
Furthermore, in the ancient world, salt was also used as a preservative. Before refrigeration and canning became the norm, meat and fish were preserved by drying, smoking, or salting. Salt was therefore used to prevent corruption in meat and fish. The Church's purpose is to preserve what is good, right, and true in the world. What else do we use salt for? We use it to melt ice, preventing people from falling and injuring themselves and cars from skidding and spinning, which can lead to accidents, injuries, and death. Here in Minnesota, we use a lot of salt due to our extreme cold and snowy weather. Our world, country, state, and city are frozen by fear, hatred, violence, cruelty, and anger. At this time in our lives, Jesus expects us, his followers, to loosen the world frozen by its own self-regard; to loosen our brothers and sisters frozen by fear; and to loosen our neighbors frozen by their violent ways. We have this melting influence around us. We are meant, not for ourselves, but for that icy world, that world that has become too cold to love, too cruel to show mercy, and too indifferent to express compassion. For what purpose? So that it can flow again. We must influence the world, not the other way around.
On top of that, in the ancient world, when a nation conquered another, it knocked down the walls, razed the city to the ground, and, to rub it in, salted the ground to ensure nothing would grow there again. So salt has a destructive power. Are we meant to destroy certain things in the world? You betcha! All those manifestations of sin: hatred, violence, resentment, racism, tribalism, a corrupt system, exclusion, cruelty, etc. We are meant to interrupt their growth and spread; we are meant to destroy them. The purpose of the Church is to positively impact the world. Salt was also used as a curative. It has medicinal value. Too much salt can raise blood pressure, but a deficiency can cause many other diseases as well. Before modern medicine, salt was used as an antiseptic. It was often poured into an open wound to remove 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 tragedies of life. 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.
Jesus also said, “You are the light of the world.” Mind you, you don’t see the light itself, but what it illumines and exposes. So the purpose of the Church is to cast light on the world. What does light do? It enables people to see clearly and know where they are going. That is why Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but in the light of life” (John 8:12). In light, people will see what to do and where to go. And we, his disciples, are meant to participate in the light that Jesus is, to illumine the paths of the world. What else does light do? It shines in dark places and exposes what is happening there. Light is meant to shine in dark corners where hatred dwells, violence festers, and old animosity still thrives. The Church’s job is to shine a light on them and to deliver judgment on them. It exposes what needs to be exposed.
Now, what is the devastating thing about this Gospel passage? Jesus says we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. But what if salt loses its taste? He says it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world,” Jesus also says. But what if the light is not set on a lampstand? What if the light is placed under a table or a bed? It is no longer useful to anyone. We lose our light when we are as dark as anyone else and become a vague echo of secular culture. What happens to us when we lose our saltiness? What happens to us when we put our light under a bushel basket? I tell you, we lose our whole purpose, distinctiveness, uniqueness, and the spicy-annoyingness. When the Church simply blends in with the world, it does not help the world. Rather, it loses its mission to the world. If we look like everyone else, sound like everyone else, move like everyone else, and share the same opinions and ideas, no one needs us. If we don’t hold on to our saltiness, we preserve nothing, spice up nothing, and threaten nothing. If we Christians threaten no one, and if our ideas and way of life threaten no one, it means we are not really doing our task in the world. If we lose our saltiness, we don’t interrupt evil.
Sisters and brothers, Christianity should be seen. A Christian should be seen and known. There can be no such thing as secret discipleship. Our Christianity should be visible to all. Have you ever noticed how some Catholics pray in restaurants? They bury their heads between their laps and under the table as they rush to make the sign of the cross. Obviously, they do not want those around them to notice them 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 confined to 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, on 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.”
God bless you!
