“You are the light of the world” 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

The Gospel (Mt 5, 13-16): “You are the light of the world”

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt becomes bland, how do you restore its flavor? He is no longer worth anything: he is thrown out and he is trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a mountain cannot be hidden. And you don’t light a lamp to put it under a bushel; you put it on the lamp post, and it shines for everyone in the house. Likewise, let your light shine before men: then, seeing what you do well, they will give glory to your Father who is in heaven. »

Other readings: Is 58, 7-10; Ps 111 (112); 1 Co 2, 1-5.

Understand

Salt has been part of man’s diet since he eats cereals and boiled meat. Both a condiment and a preservative, it was highly prized in the ancient world! As one shares a meal in which it fulfills the taste, “sharing the salt”, a very old custom, quickly became a beautiful sign of alliance. In a sacrificial context, the ancients therefore made a cultic use of salt. In Leviticus (2-13), we read: “You shall salt every oblation you offer and you shall not cease to put on your oblation the salt of the covenant of your God. In 2 Chronicles (13.5) there is talk of a “salt” covenant, often translated as inviolable, between God and David. Salt as a seal of fidelity! But loyalty may not be enough! You also need the taste! The two are linked! By being inattentive to the flavor of commitment, fidelity can become corrupted, one ends up becoming tasteless, worse, insane. (In Latin, by the way, the verb sapio has the double meaning of “to have flavor” and “to have wisdom”). Salt is therefore the condiment of joy, that which flavor gives! As with perishable foods, the salt that is joy keeps charity alive! In Col (4-6), Paul exhorts us to season our language with salt! Definitely: the flavor, so much better on the palate than gossip. An entire program !

Meditate

Wouldn’t it be arrogant today for Christians to take themselves for “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world”? Do they still have a voice in the matter, will we tolerate that in the affairs of the world, they still put their “grain of salt”? Men among men, they are not beyond reproach, far from it. Here is an assurance that no longer seems appropriate…Are the words of Christ then outdated? If he still spoke in the future, if he made it a wish, or a promise, we could work on it and try to be more so, one day. But he speaks in the present: you “are” the salt of the earth, you “are” the light of the world! How to hear it? Obviously not as a marker of superiority, nor a prerogative but as an invigorating encouragement, and an emergency! Because the world, which is going badly, needs good salt so that men don’t lose its taste and light so that they don’t forget its meaning. Not a gratuity for Christians alone, moreover, but for every man, whether he knows it or not, baptized or not, practicing or not, who is in true bond with Christ and what he embodies.

For who is a disciple? The Church is a mystery, not an association. Everywhere, men and women, who are not often favored by the press or on the catwalks, continue to salt the world, to give it taste, and to enlighten it with their lives and their presence. And the world stands by them! Jesus supports them, more than ever: you “are” the salt of the earth and the light of the world! These are my disciples! Neither salt nor light is wasted! Hold on tight ! Salt and light up! One of the reasons that makes salt such a privileged substance is that a small amount is enough for great effects. What hope!

Pray

To give flavor to the world and to enlighten it, is to engage in it. Lord, keep us sterile recesses and support our taste for this world. It is ours and it is the one given to us to love.

Lord, we often fail in the mission of salt and light… Sustain our hope and come yourself to act in our miseries and our failings.

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