5th Sunday Homily: Be Salt and Light

                                  5th Sunday in ordinary time year A

• Readings: Isaiah 58:7-10 | Psalm 112 | 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 | Matthew 5:13-16

                                To be salt and to be light of the world

On this 5th Sunday in ordinary time year A, we are called to be salt and to be light of the world. In this Sunday homily, we shall look at the 3 usages of salt that is the biblical usage, the ordinary usage, and the liturgical usage. Why and how does Jesus Christ use salt and light images to explain the mission of his disciples? In our community of believers today, in which capacity can we say that we are salt of the earth and light of the world?

To begin with, on this Sunday, we are still reading the sermon on the mountain from the gospel of St. Matthew. Now,

What are the 3 areas in which salt is used as indicated in the introductory part of this homily? These are 1. Ordinary usage 2. Biblical usage 3. Liturgical usage.

Let us start with the Ordinary usage. In our daily life, first, we add salt to food so that food can be tasty and delicious. Secondly, in some African cultures, we use salt to preserve some food like meat. How? Meat is mixed with salt then later smoked to dry up hence it will stay for long time without going bad. Thirdly, the importance of salt in some African societies and in some other cultures is that salt is used to heal. How? For example, salt could be put on the wound to heal. Moreover, when one has stomach-ache, salt mixed with water is taken to relief pain as a first aid treatment.

Let us move ahead to see the biblical usage of salt. In the Old Testament, I imagine and confirm that the person who could have put in to practice the words of Jesus literary by saying ‘be salt’ of the earth is none other than lot’s wife who became a pillar of salt after looking behind at the city of Sodom and Gomorrah-Genesis 19:26. On a more serious note, Salt in the bible is associated with food that was shared during covenant meal times. A concrete example would be, salt was used in the temple offering as we read from Ezra 6:9 because food shared after making a covenant, would remind the people of Israel the covenant they had with God. In fact, from Leviticus 2:13, it illustrates very clearly by saying “you will put salt in every cereal offering that you offer, and you will not fail to put the salt of the covenant of your God on your cereal offering. What is the importance of using salt for the food in offering? Of course, this would remind the people of Israel of their profound relationship with God.

What is the liturgical use of salt and light? Indeed, this usage finds it origin in the bible and in the traditions of the church. Let us particularly take an example of Easter vigil liturgical celebrations. After a priest has blessed water, he adds salt in the water, takes the pascal candle and dips it 3 times in the very salty water as he says the prayer of blessing over the water. Outside easter time, the priest blesses water and blesses the salt and mix them together. On the other hand, after baptism during easter vigil mass, a newly baptized is given a candle lit from the pascal candle which represents Christ the light. In fact the words said are : Receive the light of Christ. In the older baptismal ceremony, after receiving light, one would be given a pinch of salt to taste.

What does it mean to be salt and light of the world today? It means the following.

1. To give tasteful testimonies in the world, to give flavour to life just like salt and to add value in the community of believers. Salt on its own is nothing but when mixed in food, it gives taste. Likewise, a disciple cannot live on his own but he finds himself in the society where he is called to give good testimonies.

2. To preserve the doctrines of the church, to preserve morality, to preserve a good relationship with God and with one another. Do you preserve your faith? Do you preserve the sacramentals like rosaries, bibles, or catechetical notes?

3. To heal. A disciple is to bring healing at all levels such as emotional healing, spiritual healing, and moral healing. How many times do you do spiritual works of mercy like counselling those who doubt? How many times do you encourage a discouraged catholic to come back for mass at a parish? How many times do you encourage your daughter or your son to persevere in the catholic faith?

4. A disciple is to be light of the world. The image of a disciple as light completes the image of a disciple as salt. How? Light shines to dispel darkness and it has the source. Therefore, a disciple is to have the source of light as God to radiate this light through good actions. For example, there is a plastic rosary that absorbs light, then at night it will shine. Let us absorb light from Christ and shine in our Christian life today. In which capacity are you light in your family, in which capacity are you light in your parish? In which capacity are you light in your place of work?

To conclude, on this 5th Sunday in ordinary time year A, we are called to be salt of the earth and light of the world. This implies that as disciples, we give tasty, likeable, flavoured Christ like testimony, positive attitude and above all letting our actions be light to lead others to Christ now and forever. AMEN.

HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY!!!!!