5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME A
A PINCH OF SALT… A FLICKER OF LIGHT
Mt 5: 13-16
A university basketball player went on a rampage and punched several players from the opposing team during a tense moment of the game. It so happened that this player has gone into similar fights in previous games with other schools. Understandably, voices arose calling for disciplinary action, dismissal, and condemnation of the player. Surprisingly however, a few people including the coach of the aggrieved team expressed concern for the welfare and the future of the player. They asked that he be given the help of counseling to address his anger issues and to help him recover from his mistakes.
In the world today, bitterness can easily take over. Calls for hasty retribution and shaming, judgment and character assassination easily surface in social media. We can easily be swayed by emotions and by the manipulations of shallow analysis and inadequate understanding of events or of people.
In the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ issues a different challenges to his disciples. He tells them that where there is a rise in bitterness, an increase in sourness, a prevalence of blandness, be the pinch of salt that will improve the flavor and elevate the taste. A pinch of salt can make a huge difference.
In a world easily blinded by the veil of rash judgment and the dark clouds of self-righteousness, be the flicker of light that can lead people to see beyond the veneer and penetrate beyond the hardwood case to see what’s inside, to discover what is hidden. A tiny spark of light can put people at ease and give them a sense of assurance.
The Lord Jesus is not asking much from his disciples. He did not say that they have to be “all-spices” at once, nor to be an entire lighting system. Just a pinch of salt, just a tiny spark. Even these little efforts, done out of faithfulness to God and to one’s identity as a Christian can start a revolution of tenderness and understanding in the world.
Let us look into our own situations and see whether we are salt in the midst of hurtful, divisive and alienating relationships. Let us see whether we are light in the midst of darkened judgement, easy condemnation and exclusion between people. May we take seriously the task of making the world around a better place, a safer place, and a happier place, because of our fidelity to our Lord.
#ourparishpriest 2023
