Fr Marco Lazzaron
oday’s Gospel tells us about two particular prerogatives of a disciple of Jesus: being the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But be careful: being light and salt is not something acquired at birth, it is the fruit of a journey. In fact, salt can lose its flavour and light can grow dim. So much so that Nietzsche once said: “If the good news of the Bible were also written on your face, you would not need to insist that people believe in the authority of this book: your works, your actions, your choices should make the Bible almost unnecessary, because you yourselves would be the living Bible!” These words call us to the responsibility of being credible.
1. The first characteristic of disciples is being the salt of the earth. Salt has a function: to give flavour. Jesus says, “salt is good”, as if to say that Christians are the good things of the world. But if we live selfishly, we will not give any flavour to life. This is how salt loses its flavour, and we as Christians are no longer good. If people are no longer attracted to our Christianity, could it be because we have become tasteless? What have we allowed others to taste of our Christianity? “Anyone who cooks knows that adding salt to food requires discernment and moderation, but above all an awareness of performing this action in order to give flavour. Likewise, Christians must exercise such discernment and know the ‘measure’ of their presence among others, to the point of ‘hiding’ like salt in food, and moderation, discretion, awareness of being merely bearers of flavour” (Enzo Bianchi).
2. The second characteristic of disciples is being the light of the world, but we can be the true light only if we know how to be a gift for the last, for the lonely, for the abandoned, as the prophet Isaiah reminds us: “If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon!” (Is 58:10).
May the Lord help us to clothe ourselves with Him, so as to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
PRAYER
Grant us, O Lord, the spirit of the Gospel,
so that, ardent in faith and tireless in charity,
we may become the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Amen.