Vth Sunday in Ordinary Time- Cycle A.

Is.58:7-10;Icor.2:1-5; Mt.5:13-16

The Psalm 27:1 says: The Lord is my light and my salvation. Saints and mystics of all times have played on the image of God as light. The word ‘divine’ comes from a Sanskrit root, ‘div’, which means ‘to shine’. Light is from beyond our world; it is from the sun. Without sun or moonlight this planet would be a dark place. There would be no life, because every living thing owes its existence to light and is a form of light. We can never be self-sufficient. We are part of the whole physical system and we could never exist on our own. The same is true of our spiritual reality too. It would be as strange to think oneself spiritually self-sufficient as physically so. “Now in the Lord we are light.”

The ancient philosopher Aristotle wrote somewhere that of all the five senses we possess, sight is the most valued. By the sense of sight, we understand most about the world. By their nature, human beings are creatures who, above all, want to see and understand. That is why phrases like 'I see' can refer to both physical sight and to understanding something. Other phrases like, 'it finally dawned on me' use the imagery of light to indicate understanding something. Last Sunday we heard Christ's teaching that the pure of heart will see God. Faith will one day give way to vision, the beatific vision of eternal life with God and all the saints and angels. So faith connects us to God, the eternal light.

In today’s gospel Jesus says to his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). But elsewhere in John 8:12 Jesus says of himself, “I am the light of the world.” Who then is the light of the world, Jesus or his followers? This apparent contradiction is resolved by another passage in John 9:5 where Jesus modifies the statement about himself: “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” This shows that Jesus is talking about the flesh and blood embodiment of the light. As long as he is physically present in the world he is the light of the world, but when he is no longer physically present his followers now assume the role of being the light of the world.

The followers of Jesus are like the reflectors on road. The reflectors are useful at night only when light shines on them. Without head light shining on them they won’t be visible and useful. So the light they give depended on the light from another source. Otherwise they could not help one to see them. So when Jesus told his disciples they were the "light of the world," he meant they were to be reflectors of the light of God. God is the illuminating source. God provides the light that is reflected from us. And God needs us to be reflectors of God's light to a world of darkness. That is what the responsorial psalm also says today: The just man is a light in darkness to the upright. “Once you were darkness,” wrote St Paul, “but now in the Lord you are light” (Eph 5:8).

The role of the Christian in the world is defined by two words in today’s gospel: salt and light. Now what do these mean? In ancient times salt was the ultimate seasoning that gave taste to food. Without salt food would be tasteless. Jesus is saying that as salt is to food, so are Christians to the world. Christians are in the world to give it flavor, and protect it from corruption, like salt prevents corruption of meat and fish; or to become agents of healing, like saline gargling heals your sore throat. How can we make the world a sweeter place? We find the answer in the parallel passage in Mark: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50).
As salt we are called to be sweet disciples, friendly and kind, living at peace with everybody. As light we are called to show the way. Without light we bump into each another and fall into the ditch. But light says: “Here is the road, take it; here is danger, avoid it.” Without light and salt the world would be in a very bad shape, uninteresting and impossible to live in. With light and salt the world becomes a safer and better place. It is our duty as Christians to make the world a better place. In the rite of Baptism there is use of salt and light. Salt is used in blessing holy water and candle is lighted from the Easter candle.

Jesus tells His disciples that there is a difference between showing-off and showing-up. Showing-off is a play of pretense. Showing-up is a display of truth. Each of us is in a constant process of revealing our selves, even if we are not aware of it or really sure of the self we are revealing. Every gesture speaks volumes and others can read the signs and hear the wordless statements.

Salt and light apparently, may look contradictory. The salt, as is the case with yeast, cannot be seen once mixed but can be perceived; it can be tasted, relished. There are many persons that “can hardly be perceived”, as they are like “little ants” working and doing good all the time. Light, instead, cannot be hidden. There are persons that “can be seen from afar”: Mother Therese of Calcutta, the Pope, Mother Angelica. When we avow our own faith in difficult moments, we are light to others. And in certain environments, today, the mere fact of attending Mass may be the subject of jokes and general mockery. Going to Mass then is already to be “light”. And light is always detected and seen, no matter how small it may be. A little light may change the night.

If there is so much darkness and bitterness in the world today it is because we as Christians have failed in our job to be salt and light in the world.
A missionary had the occasion to put this question to the great Mahatma Gandhi, “What is the greatest hindrance to Christianity in India?” His answer was swift and decisive: “Christians.” It is said that the world would be a more Christian place today were it not for the Christians. The Christians that constitute a hindrance to Christianity are not the real and committed ones, of course, but those who bear the name Christian but, judging from the way they talk and behave, no one would suspect they have anything to do with Christ.
If I see growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion in the world, whose fault is it? Let us put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, "Where is the light?"

If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, "Where is the salt?"

If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is "Where is the church?"

The story of Rose Hawthorne, daughter of the famous nineteenth century American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrates the influence of example. Rose’s family of origin was not even Christian, but Unitarian. The family traveled to Italy when Rose was just a girl, and the beauty of the art, architecture, and Catholic culture there impressed them. But at the same time, the mediocre lives of the Catholic Christians they met there turned them off. Nathaniel Hawthorne actually wrote about this, commenting on how little effect this beauty seemed to have on the people: "I really wonder that Catholics are not better men and women."
But if the bad example of some Catholics turned off Nathaniel Hawthorne, it was the good example of some other Catholics that led his daughter Rose to discover her calling. She and her husband became Catholic soon after their marriage, and Rose found herself deeply impressed by the visible presence of women consecrated entirely to God and the Church: Catholic nuns. After her husband passed away, she became a nun herself, actually founding the Hawthorne Dominicans for the Care of Incurable Cancer - a congregation still going strong today. One rule of this congregation is that they do not accept any money from a patient's family, as that could end up prejudicing them towards wealthier patients. That example of totally unselfish service made an impression on another famous American writer from the nineteenth century - Mark Twain. He was so impressed by Rose's work, in fact, that even though he was not a Catholic himself and had inherited a strong prejudice against Catholicism, he became one of Rose's first and steadiest benefactors.
As Catholics, the example of what we do and how we do it can either draw people closer to God, or push them further away.
As Christians and as salt and light in the world, let’s recognize that we Have a responsibility for the World. We have something the world desperately needs. And we are not the Source of Our Light, but we reflect a much Greater Light.

Let us pray to the Lord for one another that we always know how to be salt. And how to be light, if need be. That our daily chores are carried out in such a way that through our good deeds people may praise our Father who is in Heaven (cf. Mt 5:12).