My Dear People, 

Jesus summons His disciples to be what God’s people were always meant to be--the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  

Salt was used to flavor and preserve food. By living the beatitudes, Jesus’ disciples became the salt of the earth and preserved goodness in the world. The disciple who does not embody the beatitudes is like salt that loses its taste: he is no longer good for anything.  

Similarly, the disciples were to be the light of the world.  In the Jewish tradition Israel was to be a light to the nations (Isa. 60:1-3; Bar. 4:2).  Jesus called His disciples to fulfill this role by living the beatitudes in such a way that the world “may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” 

Christians may ask: “What can I do to share God’s love in the world?” Christians are called to be the light to the world, and the world will be impacted for better or worse by the way we live our lives. When we as Christians fail to be saints, when we fail to live the beatitudes and be the light, the world suffers. But when we imitate Christ’s love, mercy, and generosity, the world will see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father (5:6). Though evil may still flourish in the face of saintly witness, we should always consider what good we can do to serve the coming of Christ’s kingdom in this world. 

St. John Chrysostom invites us to ponder what the world would be like if the entire Christian community lived in imitation of Christ. “Assuredly, there would be no heathen if 

we Christians took care to be what we ought to be; if we obeyed God’s precepts, if we bore injuries without retaliation, if, when cursed, we blessed our aggressor, if,  we rendered good for evil. For no man is so savage a wild beast that he would not run forthwith to the worship of true religion, if we saw all Christians acting as I said.”

In the first reading Isaiah tells us clearly we can be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. He tells us to share our bread (food) with the hungry; we are called to shelter the oppressed and homeless; clothe the naked, and not to turn back on our own. In other words, think of the needs of others before our own needs and our own justice. These are the same, what the Church has delineated as corporal acts of mercy.  What happens when we do them?  Isaiah has the answer in today’s first reading;

“Your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!” 

The light of the world comes from practicing what Isaiah said in today’s reading. Read and reflect on it. The Christians in the early church reflected on this teaching. They shared love where there was hatred and persecution. This made an impact on many pagans who used to say: “See how they love one another.”  Such examples encouraged them to become Christians. 

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Vincent Clemente