OT V [A]: Is 58:7-10; I Cor 2:1-5; Mt 5: 13-16

The readings today tell us that we are the light of the world! The readings of the past two Sundays tell us that Jesus is the light of the world! Thus the Gospel Acclamation today:

“I am the light of the world, says the Lord, anyone who follows me will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12)

We read in the gospel today:

“You are the light of the world. …. Your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5: 14. 16)

The first reading follows the theme of the gospel. The first reading tells us to practice justice and charity, that is, to help the poor and the needy, and to free the oppressed and the exploited! By practicing justice and charity our light will shine like the dawn and the noon! Thus we read in the first reading:

    “Thus says the Lord: Share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, clothe the man you see to be naked and turn not from your own kin. Then will your light shine like the dawn ….” (Is 58:7. 8a. 9b-10)    

So, Isaiah told them to be generous. They must each look beyond their own personal needs. They must share their bread with the hungry – They were to find shelter for the oppressed and the homeless.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us that attitude is everything. The way we behave toward others is the indication of who and what we are inside. We are to be “salt” that gives a divine flavor to everything we do. We are to be “light” wherever we find ourselves. Certainly, we all have multiple obligations toward other people. But what is our attitude? Does it reveal a truly generous heart and spirit? Because, if we truly touch the heart of another, we can lift up their spirit – We can lead them to praise God if they are believers themselves – And they might even become changed in some way! Furthermore, if we bring the right attitude to our help to non-believers – perhaps, they will wonder why we reached out to them. And in their search for the “why”, they might be led to God in some way!

When we become salt and light for others we become missionaries, leading them to Christ, the Light, who says, I am the light of the world. When we become light for them, they will find Christ.

One time I became an effective missionary; it was some 31 years ago, right before I became a priest, while I was a deacon. A friend of mine and I went to Calcutta to do some charity service and see for ourselves what the missionaries of Mother Teresa were doing. And, even after these many years that one experience stands out before me as clear as day light. One morning after I reached there one religious brother took me out to show what they were doing on a regular basis. He took me to the main railway station of Calcutta where three or four trains would be coming in our going off at the same time. It was the terminal station. On one corner of that station we found lying an old woman, unconscious and near death. The brother asked me to help him carry her outside the railway station as he picked up a stretcher made available by the railway. As we moved her on to the stretcher we realized that she had a mortal festering wound at the back of her head which gave out terrible smelling. We brought her outside the railway station looking for a taxi to get her to the nursing care facility ran by the sisters, as this was a woman. The brothers kept the men, and the women were transferred to the sisters to take care.

We tried in vain to get a taxi, because once the taxi driver finds out how bad this woman smelled and looked, he would refuse and take off. Eventually we approached a traffic Cop to assist us and he stopped a cab and told him he had to take her to where we wanted, otherwise he would take action on him. Unwillingly he did but all the way to the place he kept abusing us for doing such work and giving him inconvenience. He said nobody would sit in his car the rest of the day with this awful smell in the car. I was sitting in the front seat, alongside the driver and I could not breath because of the foul smell and so I put my head out through the window. When we reached the place he insisted we wash his car for him because maggots were creeping all over the seats. So we did.

Later I heard that she died three days later, recovered consciousness and responded to the sisters and thanked them for what they were doing for her.  As Mother Teresa once said, nobody could do this kind of work for money but only for Christ.

It was a month long experience for me there but for long time I kept remembering a young Muslim who had been there in the facility receiving medical attention. He had been there for a few months already because his both hands were burned up in a communal fight. The enemies put some type of carbon element in his hands and tied them together and poured water that his both palms were burned and not a tinge of flesh was left. They were burned even to the bones. He could do nothing with his palms and we would dress his hands every other day. Sometimes I would ask him questions about himself or about the incident, and he never retuned a word. Not once, did I hear him speak. He would stare in to my eyes when I clean his wound and bandage them. I knew he was wondering to himself why we were doing this when even his own family did not take him in, in such a condition. Later in my mind I thought to myself how could he not become a Christian after experiencing so much love and care from that facility for free.  He may have had to wait there for months, if not years to get healed completely well.

We responded three times the responsorial Psalm, “The just man is a light in darkness to the upright.” (Ps 111:4).

We are called and reminded today that we be salt and light to others to those living in darkness of their life. We are not called to convert others by force or enticements but by our good example and generous sharing of the gospel message with others. Today, let’s examine, do I have some salt or light to share with others.