Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 - Tuesday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Kgs 17:7-16 and Matt 5:13-16]"Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." [Matthew]
The Sermon on the Mount began with the "beatitudes," whose beauty can distract us from their challenge. In the Jubilee Year of Mercy, we might remember the particular beatitude, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy..." Today, we are taught to be "salt of the earth" and "light of the world" so that people may see our good deeds and glorify our heavenly Father.
"Salt of the earth" is familiar to us. We speak of people with a certain down-to-earth goodness and integrity about them as "salt of the earth." Jesus says we can ALL be like that. We are also taught that our faith is not just a private matter. It is meant to be shared. This is what it means to be "light of the world." Later on in the Sermon on the Mount we are warned about doing good things just so people will notice us and praise us. There the question of motives enters in. Right now, the Lord wants us to live in such a way that the gospel is preached by our daily dedication to caring about others. This does not necessarily mean hours spent in church or in devotions. It means consistent faith in meeting each day's challenges.
I once saw a sign in a gas station that read: "No one is completely worthless. They can always serve as a bad example." Surely our faith can say more than that! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
89 ms
4
