5th Sunday in Ordinary Time / A 06/02/2011
Matthew 5, 13-16 (p. 551)
In the reading continues the Gospel according to St. Matthew we hear in this Sunday following the Gospel of the Beatitudes. This teaching of Jesus seems simple. The Lord began his first teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, with a call to happiness according to the will of God. We are made for happiness, but not whatever. We make life choices we make for our vocation as children of God. Any following the Sermon on the Mount gives us concrete evidence to live the Beatitudes. Here, addressing the first disciples Jesus insists on the evidence they will be held in the world. We may be giddy at hearing These strong expressions: You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world ... An early Christian writer used this beautiful image to locate the place of Christians, while minority in a pagan Roman empire: they are what the soul is to the body. That is to say a vivifying principle, a presence that gives meaning and hope. But why the soul must be united to the body and not leak or break away. The image of the Salt of the Earth said the same thing. Or to use the terminology of St. John, Christians should be in the world without being of the world. The salt is only useful mixed with food to give it taste and enhance. At the same time the salt must be different from the food to play its role fully. But we do not mageons salt for itself! Such is the paradox of the situation of Christians in our world. And of course the difficulty for us to find that balance evangelical. The Europe of the 21st century brings us finally in a situation quite similar to that of the early Christian minority in the great Roman Empire. If during the centuries Christianity has merged with Christianity, it is no longer the case today and that since the French revolution. Christ's message has more support from kings and rulers nor weapons and coercion to spread. He is only the testimony of our Christian life. We're the salt of the earth. The image of the light of the world brings a nuance. If the salt mixes with the food, the light is outside the world it illuminates or rather distinct. The lamp is in the room without being a part. We can remove and hide in the words of Jesus. And it's the end of our Gospel that clearly explains the evidence we have to give as a light of the world: "Let your light shine before men. So, seeing what you doing good, they give glory to your Father in heaven. " How we light our world? Defending ideas? Talking about our faith? Jesus replied, acting as well, being the reflection of divine goodness. We find this belief in the entire New Testament. The witness is not a propagandist or an ideologue but someone who tries to be consistent, a person who puts his actions into line with his faith. Far lead us to any pride, the term "light of the world" implies the contrary from us humility and wisdom in God. If we do well is by the grace of God. And this act by the well sends the others in this world, the source of all goodness, God our Father. Simply a problem arises in us. For the same Sermon on the Mount, a little farther, Jesus seems to ask us the opposite attitude! "Do not do your good deeds to people so they notice you," and the Lord illustrates this principle with examples of charity, prayer and fasting. On the one hand it seems that Jesus asks us to show and hide the other of us! This Gospel is not so simple that we could think a priori. And it is always beneficial for us to read a passage from the Gospel in its wider context. The solution to this apparent contradiction could be: the Lord reminds us that our primary motivation in choosing what is good is good in itself. I do not do much for me to show others or even to have a place in heaven. If I choose good, because I am convinced that in itself is always preferable to evil. If I choose good, because I know he is the key to true happiness for me and for others. Act salt of the earth and light of the world is witness to be the Good News. And indeed the true witness does not play a role. It is simply what it is. He does not look nor take pleasure in itself, which would of course pride. Or put another way at least I am conscious of my role as a witness than I am in truth. The truest testimony is always natural, it is neither calculated nor sought nor affected. All persons who approached John Paul II knows that this pope has seen first in his manner. His best teaching on prayer has been simply to pray. Those who had the grace to see him in a state of prayer know it. He did not play a role in order to edify the faithful. He prayed, that's all. May our Christian witness the strength of simplicity and naturalness!
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