5th Sunday in Orinary Time

Gospel Reflection

Matthew 5:13-16

When Jesus spoke with his disciples, that is, with those who did not simply come to hear him out of mere curiosity, or as a one-off encounter, but with those who had come to believe in him, he did not simply speak to them in parables. The parables were his method of teaching those who were not committed to his way. They were stories designed to capture the attention of people whose level of interest was mixed, encourage their curiosity, and hopefully, draw them to go deeper into the truths he was revealing. When he was surrounded by faithful followers, he taught in a more direct way. Sometimes he would console them with the promises of God’s love and mercy,. At other times he would challenge them, but in an encouraging way. Since we, hopefully, want to be faithful followers—true Christians—we should want to respond to those challenges that Jesus directed and continues to direct to those who love Him.

We hear Him saying today: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? …. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub…you must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” What is obvious is that Jesus does not want us to be persons whose only concern is to avoid doing

something so wrong that it puts our own soul in danger of being lost. He wants us to be persons who are doing our best to attract others to the Christian faith , to the Catholic Church. He wants us to be genuinely interested in others, concerned for both their material and spiritual well-being. He wants us to give an example of sincerity, justice, self-control, humility and love of God that others sooner or later notice. In other words, he wants us to growing in personal holiness. In one of the last letters that Pope John Paul II addressed to the whole Church, he wrote: “This ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness. The ways of holiness are many, according to the vocation of each individual . . . The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community and of Christian families must lead in this direction.”

And Pope Paul VI had this to say in Evangelii nuntiandi: 21. Above all the Gospel must be proclaimed by witness. Take a Christian or a handful of Christians who, in the midst of their own community, show their capacity for understanding and acceptance, their sharing of life and destiny with other people, their solidarity with the efforts of all for whatever is noble and good. Let us suppose that, in addition, they radiate in an altogether simple and unaffected way their faith in values that go beyond current values, and their hope in something that is not seen and that one would not dare to imagine. Through this wordless witness these Christians stir up irresistible questions in the hearts of those who see how they live: Why are they like this? Why do they live in this way? What or who is it that inspires them? Why are they in our

midst? Such a witness is already a silent proclamation of the Good News and a very powerful and effective one.

We are not asked to be superheroes or persons who achieve some result that merits being recorded in a history book. It is not expected that we manage never to stumble or fall flat on our face. What is expected is that we will not be happy to do just the minimum throughout life, or simply try to protect ourselves, avoiding the biggest sorts of pitfalls. God wants us to make a difference for our families, friends and workmates, to show love and generosity, soothers will come to see that it makes a difference to believe in Christ, to be his disciple, a Catholic Christian.