Isaiah 58:7-10; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5; Matthew 5:13-16
Be who you are – Light of the World and Salt of the Earth
A hunter went hunting and came upon an eagle’s nest with eggs in it. He took the eggs home and mixed them with those of an incubating free range hen. The innocent hen hatched all her eggs, thinking she had only chicks. One day, while she was foraging with her chicks, one of them, an eaglet, asked her about those creatures flying up in the sky, and why shouldn’t he do the same. The hen said, those are birds, they can fly, we can’t. The eagle lived all its life thinking it was a chicken.
Fortunately, God does not want the lot of the eaglets in our story to befall us, so he makes known to us our identity – “light of the world” and “salt of the earth.” How do we go about witnessing to who we are? Perhaps the proper question is: what kind of light is at stake, and what kind of salt? Perhaps, remembering the gospel of last Sunday – the Beatitudes – helps us to put in perspective the lessons of this Sunday. If the Beatitudes are guides towards the manifestation or building of the Kingdom of God on earth, then the precise meaning of “light of the world” and “salt of the earth” becomes evident, not because they are synonymous phrases, but because they are the concrete meaning of the Beatitudes.
At creation, the very first thing God did was to create light – “let there be light, and there was light.” The absence of light is the presence of chaos and confusion. At creation, God stepped into a formless void by pronouncing the appearance of light, and the cessation of darkness. When Christ came into the world, John says of him, in his Prologue – “the light, which enlightens all men, was coming into the world.” These two instances, Genesis 1 and John 1, provide us with ample opportunities to think about and know what the light is all about. So, “you are the light of the world,” a declarative statement, what does it mean, according to readings of this Sunday?
According to the first reading of today, one of the signs of darkness is the aridity of virtue, practical virtue or charity. Hear what Isaiah says: “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own” (Isaiah 58:7). This is what Christians call corporal works of Mercy, a physical help to those in need. Darkness of greed is what produces a needy population. Darkness of misuse of power is what creates an oppressed class. Darkness of mistrust and homophobia leads to turning one’s back to other human beings.
President Donald Trump’s executive order against welcoming immigrants into the United States, Moslems’ and Christians’ reprisal attacks in Nigeria, the reign of Islamic terrorism and its exportation around the globe, North Korean missile threats, and Russian attacks on Ukraine are all signs of darkness and absence of virtue. It was the presence of a similar situation of darkness that warranted the prophecy of Isaiah which we read today. Israel was at war with other nations, Israel in captivity to other nations, and Israel’s consideration of other nations as outside of God’s mercy and love. Today, our first reading makes corporal works of mercy the silver bullet against darkness in all its form – oppression, homophobia, racism, etc.
The proposal of today’s gospel that human beings are the light of the world and salt of the earth puts both the problem and its solution at the doorstep of humanity. Human beings are capable of the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, it is the negative side of humanity that is praised and eulogized by media and society, the human capacity for violence and destruction. The power of bullets and bombs; the powers of bullies and manipulators. Indeed, human beings have unlearned love, and installed hatred. What does one expect, since God-made-man, Jesus Christ, did not escape death in the hands of human beings! Thanks be to God, there was Veronica who could wipe Jesus’ face; Simon of Cyrene (from Libya) to help Jesus to carry his Cross; John to provide a home for Mary, the Mother of Jesus. If these few were there for Jesus, today, you and I are these few and audacious Christians, ready to receive bullets in Jesus’ name rather than lift an AK47 in retaliation.
Paul maps out the strategy of a Christian, in our second reading – a demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit. The temptation has always been, “if you cannot change/beat them, you join them.” This is wrong, for a Christian. We have the example of St. Paul who refused to pitch his tent with the Philosophers, rhetoricians, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). One may call Paul a loser, a weakling. In fact, this may be true, according to him, “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling,” he says, in our second reading. Of course, Paul had escaped many attempts on his life. However, here is the climax of Paul’s message: “I came to you . . with a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.”
It is only the power of God that makes one to love one’s enemies, to accept persecutions without retaliation, to be a Christian in words and deeds. If darkness persists, it is because we have joined in the logic of the world and given up our identity as lights of the world and salt of the earth. It was late Bishop Sagna, C.S.Sp. who said, during the World Youth Day in Toronto, “you do not need a bag of salt to cook a bag of rice!” How true! Should we have few authentic Christians, the transformation of our world will be guaranteed.
If there is any challenge to Christianity today, it is not radical Islam, homophobia and racism. The major threat to Christianity is the absence of Christianity in our world. The champions of Christianity are martyrs, because their founder died for his enemies and friends alike, he never took anybody’s life. In the very weakness of laying down his life, in the persecution of his followers, Christianity spread to the very ends of the world. To look for platitudes and eulogies, to seek peace without justice and fairness, is to deny Christianity of the cross, the most important element Paul talks about in our second reading.
The age and era of persecution and martyrdom is upon us. Those who will remain standing are those ready to die for their faith. Perhaps this South African poem, by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali, sums up Christianity in all its inconveniences:
NIGHTFALL IN SOWETO (or the Age of Martyrdom)
Nightfall comes like
a dreaded disease
seeping through the pores
of a healthy body
and ravaging it beyond repair
A murderer’s hand,
lurking in the shadows,
clasping the dagger,
strikes down the helpless victim.
I am the victim.
I am slaughtered
every night in the streets.
I am cornered by the fear
gnawing at my timid heart;
in my helplessness I languish.
Man has ceased to be man
Man has become beast
Man has become prey.
I am the prey;
I am the quarry to be run down
by the marauding beast
let loose by cruel nightfall
from his cage of death.
Where is my refuge?
Where am I safe?
Not in my matchbox house
Where I barricade myself against nightfall.
I tremble at his crunching footsteps,
I quake at his deafening knock at the door.
“Open up!” he barks like a rabid dog
thirsty for my blood.
Nightfall! Nightfall!
You are my mortal enemy.
But why were you ever created?
Why can’t it be daytime?
Daytime forever more?”
Yes, for there to be “Daytime forever more,” you and I must be “light of the world” and “salt of the earth.”
Assignment of the Week:
Fight against any hateful feelings toward anybody for any reason, this week.