Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - Tuesday in the 10th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 1:18-22 and Matt 5:13-16]"You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." [Matthew]
JUNE 13 ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA, (OFM) priest and doctor of the Church
Jesus appeals to our senses of taste and sight in this passage from the Sermon on the Mount. Salt is certainly one of the fundamental "tastes." Too much or too little in a meal is immediately noticed. In Jesus' day, salt was also used to enhance the burning property of animal dung which was used in place of wood for fire. On a bigger level, salt was a commodity worth fighting a war over (just as oil might be in our day).
A second sense in today's passage is sight. We know immediately if our sight is not good - that we are squinting to read books or signs on the road. Those of us who are "older" (I am 74) know the experience of developing cataracts that can impede sight. Having the right kind of lighting in a room can make all the difference in the quality of activity that takes place. Putting the lamp in the right place is crucial.
We use the expression, "salt of the earth," to describe a person who is humble and wise. We also use the expression, "He/she lights up any room they walk into." Whom do we know that either of these expressions apply to, especially when it comes to faith? Jesus would like us all to be like that kind of person in the way we "put skin on" our faith. AMEN
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