Salt and Light

FROM THE CATHOLIC LITURGY FOR THE 5^TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME. Matthew 5:13-16  In today’s Gospel, Jesus does calls us to engage in evangelization, that is, to spreading the Gospel and inviting others to a relationship with Him, by using two things that we are all so very familiar with: salt and light.  We all know what salt does: it brings out the best in food and makes it more appealing. That’s what we are all supposed to do by our lives. Our Catholic Christian faith is meant to bring out the best in us.  It is meant to show those with whom we live and work and socialize that God is good and that a relationship with Jesus makes us the best version of ourselves that we can be.  Now what does Jesus mean when he says that we have to be careful to not lose our saltiness? He means that if we are just like everyone else in how we treat others and how we live, if the values of our secular consumer-mentality society are as much in us as in everyone else, then we have lost the spice of Christianity. Our witness will be no different than anyone else and so we are useless in carrying out the mission to evangelize.  And we all know how vital light is to our everyday living!  Among other things, it keeps us safe and helps us to avoid dangerous situations. In the same way, the more people examine our behavior and see our good choices, the clearer it becomes for them to see that the Gospel is a way of positive living that enhances our relationships. Then this might encourage them to investigate a relationship with Jesus Christ for themselves.  For today’s Gospel teaching I find inspiration in the life of one of our saints-to-be. Her name is Elizabeth Leseur and she lived in France about 100 years ago. I think you will finder her commitment to being salt and light very interesting! Let’s ask Jesus for the grace to never lose our saltiness.  For the grace to never ever be darkness for someone instead of light. Because we want them to be eternally happy, we want to see the good that we do and give praise to our Heavenly Father.