Fifth Sunday of the Year (A) 9 February 2014
Mt 5:13-16
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
“You are the light of the world A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Jose Enrique Ruiz de Galarreta S.J.
The Gospel of Matthew has till now shown us Jesus sent by God, full of the Spirit, the call to conversion and the “mentality” of Jesus, the Beatitudes. Soon after we are shown our mission under the signs: salt and light.
The meaning is as simple as it is profound: salt serves to make food tasty, light helps us to see what is already there. Both have only one purpose: they help other things to be effective, to be what they are.
The theme of light connects with a long tradition in Scripture. It is one of the strong threads of revelation: God is shown from the beginning as light.
His first creation (Genesis) is light.
For the people on their journey (Exodus) it is the column of light that guides them at night.
The Psalms unceasingly take up the metaphor for God, our light.
It is a constant theme repeated in Isaiah: Remember Is.9. The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light.”
Is.60 “Rise up, shine out Jerusalem, for here comes your light.” (Texts used in the liturgy of Christmas and Epiphany).
All this is found in abundance in the whole of the N.T. till it ends up as one of the preferred symbols of John to present Jesus: “The Word was the true light…” (Jn.1) ‘I am the light of the world”,(Jn.8)
In the same way, light is used as the manifestation of the divinity, of the “Glory of the Lord”, from Sinai up to the birth in Bethlehem, the Transfiguration and the conversion of St. Paul.
The sign of light acquires, besides, three other important connotations all through Scripture.
In the first place, sin as darkness, in the two meanings we already know: darkness because it is a withdrawal from the light, an unawareness of God, an absence of light which is God; and darkness as hostility to the light, an obsessive theme in John, who establishes the Foundation of his Gospel as God-Light rejected by darkness.(Luke 22, 53)
Secondly, the just as light. Israel is constituded as a light for the gentiles, a theme that is dear to Isaiah. Which constitutes one of the lines of evolution of the “election”. The People is chosen not as a privilege but so that it become a light for the nations. It has been given the light in order to illumine. This is the thread which connects directly with “The Mission” (sending of the disciples). As the Father sent me, so I send you. Go and teach all nations…
But there is a third meaning, which definitively completes the message, which begins to appear - rather timidly – in the responsorial psalm, and connects with another profound theme of revelation ( I want mercy and not sacrifice). God shines out in his works. God is light for us, he illumines our lives because he is the Savior. We often tend to identify “light” with “the word that illumines us” or, worse still, with heavenly splendor. The light of Jesus, not only his words, his message, but the whole Jesus, his way of proceeding, his criteria, his values, his behavior: in these the Spirit “shines out”.
For this very reason, the people are light because they live in the light, because they live the works of the light, because they live free from sin, because they live like sons. And therefore, the light we give to men is not above all a message of words but a way of life that convinces, which saves, capable of showing everyone how good life is.
The same meaning appears in the reading from Isaiah. The just man shines like the light because of his good works and here already are pointed out the good works not precisely those connected with worship, but those that refer to the neighbor.
It is strange also to show how this text combines the clarity of this message with a symbolism that seems to imply that it is then that God will always hear you and give you health. Clearly they are symbols of friendship with God taken from a long, older tradition.
In contrast to the term “light” the term “salt” does not represent in Scripture a specially strong lineage. It appears several times, because salt is a common and important ingredient, and also as a symbol of death, but it does not form part of any important lineage. In fact, it hardly appears in the Gospels except in this context, and John does not even use it. It is, therefore, a “new” term in this sense, we could think of as “invented” by Jesus.
Even though its parallel use to light with regard to its meaning is profound, we would like to have the reader notice the “stamp” of Jesus, his need to understand everything chiefly with reference to the Father, the Kingdom. Jesus is the most extraordinary creator of parables, symbols, and images, who unbelievably has been capable of speaking of God, man and the Kingdom by using things in daily use. Everyday objects, visible and habitual, have a normal reality, things we know and use normally, but are – all of them – more fundamentally and with greater importance, the Word of God.
And Jesus sees that. Jesus is a true contemplative in action, because he can see God in all things, because he receives the Word of God habitually, through his senses, because he sees the Father in all things, and in all his actions responds to him.
Here, the symbolism of salt is extraordinary. We would say that of itself it is useless. It is there to be added to food, to enhance its taste. The humble salt made for other things, so that other things can be themselves, seems to us an even better sign than light, which can seems more showy.
REFLECTION
Two precious symbols, a message of great depth.
Think of the light of the humble village lamp, or better still, of the candle. The candle: a little wax and a wick: useless and ugly, of little value. Lit up, it’s a little wonder. It helps to know where everything is, where to move around… The darkness paralyzes me: everything is in place but I can’t even move… that little light “puts everything in its place”, it helps me become useful. It’s like creation happening.
But, of all that makes up the candle, it is precisely the light that is not a part of it, something it gets from the outside: it has to be lit from another flame. A precious symbol of what we are: useless and ugly if we are not lit up by the light of Jesus. And the light consumes us: the candle gives its life to be light: our life is, all of it, to be light. “You are the light of the world”, can be a pompous message (I am the light!). It can be the definition of our mission (“If I am not consumed in being light, I am good for nothing.)
Salt is noticed only if it’s there or there’s too much of it. Faith, the Word, puts in taste. But the taste of the salt, not an added taste. Faith, the Word, uncover the taste things have of their own,
Just as the light adds nothing, but shows what each thing is. If there’s too much salt, everything becomes inedible.
His taste, let it not be too little or too much… The genius of Jesus! We can reflect on ourselves, the Church, perhaps blown out candles or tasteless salt useless for anything; perhaps salt that wants to give its own taste of salt to things… without recognizing that things have their own taste, that they only need to be lit up so that their colors can show, garnish things a bit to bring out the taste.
But, to complete Isaiah, all this is not accomplished with words, with rites, with ceremonies, with fasting, with sacrifices… It’s done simply by being austere, pure of heart, merciful, working for justice… There are too many words on light, we lack candles. There are too many books on cookery for the use of salt. We need salt in our own lives. There’s too much preaching of the Word, we need to be the Word; without noise, let us be used as salt, but letting my life be used up in being light.
No text of the Gospels show Jesus present at grandiose ceremonies of the Temple, in ritual sacrifices. Having completed his fast on the Mount of Temptation, he is not shown as a spectacular ascetic. He prays alone at night, but he is constantly speaking to the Father and of the Father. He heals constantly, breaks laws, rites and taboos in order to heal and console, holds compliments of no account… but is at work constantly: we not only hear wonderful words from his lips but - above all – the power of the Spirit at work in him. Jesus is truly a lighted candle for us, consumed to give light. Jesus is truly salt that gives taste to everything, to living, working, resting, succeeding and failing, being healthy and sick, dying…to everything: the whole of our lives makes delightful sense because of Jesus, our salt.
AN IMPORTANT FINAL REFLECTION
On the pedantry of “believing oneself to be the light of the others”.
It can be truly uncomfortable for anyone to “believe oneself to be as such, and even more so for one to be considered “darkness”. How can a normal person go through life believing himself the light for everyone else? It seems to me that there this mindset does exist in some Christians and that it is quite disgusting.
The right attitude is quite different. Firstly, because our light is not our own. It makes no sense to believe something about oneself for having received the light. We are like a candle: wax and wick : completely useless if not lighted: and the light is not of the candle, it is received. Besides, we have only been given the light because it is needed in the world: to have received a mission does not make us better, but commits us more. The complement to this image of light is in the parables of the talents and of the Pharisee and the publican. If someone has something, a quality, a gift, a possession…God has given it to him because that is the way those things have been given to human beings. Just for that reason. Hence the right attitude is to offer simply what we have received.
There’s more. No one has received all there is, and we receive from all. No one is “The Light”, but has a part of the light. And all, believers and non-believers give the light of God. Only in this way, giving what we have can we be brothers on our journey, revealing ourselves mutually to God. But that “race” of people is very dangerous who give thanks to God for being what they are. We ought to often read the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee: it is one of the most successful interpretations of religious psychology, that read in depth, challenges us profoundly.
But it is extraordinarily important to discover under those signs, the revelation of God, Light and Salt: God is light and salt. Light and salt is what enhances and powers all that is positive in human life.
Whoever said that God limits, impedes, restricts…? God reveals, empowers, illumines, gives delight and with God one sees better and knows more. We either understand the revelation of Jesus in this way, or we are messing up the GOOD NEWS.
And enjoy the way of life of Jesus. Above all, I like Jesus because he does not define God, because he does not define him in concepts, only in metaphors, because God does not fit into reasoning, but a human being is capable of grasping him better than by understanding him.
No comments:
Post a Comment