Last Thursday, when we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, we reflected on how Simeon presented Jesus as truly the Light of the World – and in
today’s Gospel, we were told by Christ himself that He is not the only one who should be the Light for the world, but us as well as followers of Him. As disciples of that Light of the World, Jesus Christ, we are asked to not just mirror that Light whom we follow, but that we ourselves become a light of the world and salt of the earth.
During the time of Jesus, salt was one of the most important commodities. It not only gave flavor to the food, but was also used as a preservative. In the Old Testament, the imagery of salt plays a very important role. Aside from being an essential food condiment, salt was also used during the biblical times for cereal and burnt offerings in the temple. The Old Testament also speaks of "covenant of salt": "All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well (Numbers 18:19).” "Covenant of salt" means a permanent relationship; eating salt with someone meant to be bound in loyalty. This is what the evangelist Mark refers to when he writes: "Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another (Mark 9:50).” Salt was also used to rub a newborn child for medicinal or other purposes, such as the desire to save the child from demonic forces. The concern that "salt has lost its flavor" is difficult for us to understand today, especially because of the purity of the salt we use. In the time of Jesus, salt was not purified in the way that we know, but was collected from deposits left by the Dead Sea as it dried. This salt was
exposed to the elements and could break apart and lose its flavor. Such salt is a very appropriate metaphor for discipleship, which can and does lose its vigor over time if care is not taken to keep it alive.
So when Jesus exhorts his disciples, including us today, “to be the salt of the earth,” he wants us to give “flavor” in the midst of a society or community that has already lost its taste for many good and essential things of life and to be loyal and faithful to our faith commitment just as what the salt stood for in the Old Testament times. And how do we do that? Simply by giving witness to the faith that we profess through our own lifestyle and not to become lukewarm about it. For how can one improve the “flavor” of the lives of
others and be instruments of the Gospel if one doesn’t really practice it or at times practices it with much reservation. To really practice the faith is to grow in our understanding of it and not just rely on what we have learned from the catechism classes many, many years ago, but to truly inquire as to why the Church teaches this thing and not that thing and also to resolve those questions that we have about our faith so that we will truly be convinced that this faith that we have embraced makes sense to us, and we are not just here because our parents asked that we be baptized to this faith or that my wife or husband would be happy if I convert to Catholicism. To be the salt of the earth is to make our Christian commitment as our own and, in doing so, being fired up to share it with others because we know that the good that it gives us cannot be contained
within, but must be shared with others so that they too will experience the same joy that we feel in our own lives. This is the reason why Christ said that we must the light of the world as well – a light that can’t be hidden, but should shine and warm others. One of the moving parts of the baptismal rite is when the priest gives the lighted candle to the parents and godparents with these words: “Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He/she is to walk always as a child of the light. May he/she keep the flame of faith alive in his/her heart. When the Lord comes, may he/she go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” We can only keep the light burning brightly if we keep the wick of our lives steady through our faithful and courageous witnessing to the gospel. Have we kept the flame of that candle that we received from baptism burning? Or is it already
extinguished? And have we become light for others, or have we put them in the dark? - Fr. Cary