Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (A) – Matthew 5:13-16
As we continue to hear from the Sermon on the Mount, we once again hear familiar images coming from the mouth of Jesus: “salt of the earth”, “light of the world”, “city set on a hill”. Even people who aren’t members of any church will recognize these images. But what do they mean for us? How are we salt, or light, or a city on a hill?
Jesus says, “You (plural) are salt; you (plural) are light; you (plural) are that city”. So, who is this “you”? It is all those who follow Jesus: his disciples, his Body, his Church. All believers, together. And who are we as believers? We are the people, first of all, whom Jesus has just described in the Beatitudes, which came just before this passage.
We are poor in spirit. In other words, we come to Jesus with no “possessions” – no sacred cows, no preconditions. We come, freed by Jesus’ love from any “possession”, free to have faith in him and to follow where he leads.
We are the meek. In other words, we do not let ourselves get worked up over the apparent success of evil in our world (see Psalm 37, the background for this beatitude). Rather, we trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in us and in the world, in spite of any appearance to the contrary. Therefore, we persevere in our tasks of charity and justice, for we are freed from worrying about “results” (those are in God’s hands) and thus are free to be faithful to the task at hand.
We are those who mourn. Rejecting all apathy, we dare to have compassion to all. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”, as Paul says. We care enough to mourn for the sufferings of others as well as our own. We mourn for the earth, that itself groans in travail as it awaits the full revelation of the children of God and suffers from the greed of those who want still more. Thus, we also are compassionate to all of creation.
We hunger and thirst for righteousness. We cannot be bought off by any worldly promise of prosperity or power or security, nor can we be intimidated into accepting what is evil. The Spirit dwells in our hearts. We know the good when we see it. We know that only the Lord saves. We will settle for nothing else, and nothing less.
We are merciful. We are not ruled by anger or fear. We know that we have been forgiven by God, even though we have done nothing to deserve this mercy. As forgiven and healed sinners, we are merciful to those who offend us, as we know that we, too, offend God. We know that mercy is the hope of the world.
We are pure of heart. We are focused on “the one necessary thing” – the word of God. God is our center; God is our life. Everything else is secondary. Nothing else is important unless it comes from God or leads to God.
We are peacemakers. We build bridges, not walls. We dare to initiate reconciliation and healing with others, for Jesus has already achieved reconciliation through his own life, death and resurrection. We heal divisions. We welcome the outcast. We find ways for all people to live and work together in harmony. God is a harmony, a Three-In-One. We seek to be a people in his image, working to help others also live in his image.
We are insulted and persecuted. This is not a thing of the past. It happened before, and it continues. But we are not afraid of this. It is only for a brief time. We witness to the Lord, and sometimes just the gentle witness of our lives will provoke misunderstanding and rejection. But this, too, is a test. Many people are looking, even unconsciously, for people who will be true, no matter what.
People who live in this way are doing what Jesus did when he walked among us in Galilee. Yes, it is such people whom Jesus calls salt, light, and that city on a hill. Now, a word on each.
Salt. Salt is a preservative. It helps keep foods from spoiling. It also enhances the taste of many foods. On the other hand, salt also removes certain dangers from our way. Think of salt on icy walkways and roads. We, as Christians, are the salt of the earth. By our faithfulness to the Lord, we help preserve the world. We enhance what is good in the world, and we help identify and remove all that is evil. As salt, we do not exist for ourselves alone. Our Christian witness benefits the whole world; indeed, even the whole of creation. And it is precisely by being people of the Beatitudes that we fulfill this call to be the salt of the earth.
Light. Light helps us find our way. We can more clearly see what we want and need, and avoid what may injure us. In the same way, Christians who live the Beatitudes are light for the world – not just for one another. We help everyone see what is truly good and what is truly evil, whenever we are faithful to the word that the Lord has given us.
The city on a hill. In ancient times, cities were built on or around hills whenever possible, as this made them easier to defend from invaders. Cities were thus visible from some distance away, and could serve as landmarks for travelers. But anyone hearing Jesus say these words in Galilee would not have missed the allusion to THE city on a hill – Jerusalem, built around Mount Zion, and the prophecies about Jerusalem. Jerusalem would be established as the highest mountain. All nations would stream toward it and worship the living and true God. The renewal of all creation would flow from this renewed Jerusalem. So, Jesus is saying that we, his followers, are this Jerusalem. By our faithfulness to him, we will draw people from every nation to find the Lord and worship him. The renewal of all of creation will begin through us.
This is our call, our life, as Catholic Christians. Everything we have – sacraments, devotions, canon law, Church structure – is meant to foster just such a life. However, we know that salt can become “insipid”, as Jesus warns us. We can choose to hide our light under a basket, or abandon that city on a hill. What we need to remember here is that, whenever we fail in our vocation as Christians, it is not merely our own personal salvation that is at risk. The world suffers when Christians abandon their posts, even if they adopt the ways of those around them. Isn’t it strange that Nazism and Communism – two ideologies that brought untold suffering and death to millions of people – arose in nations that had been nominally Christian for many centuries? Isn’t it strange that this country, a nation many people claim to be Christian in orientation, is still plagued with violence, divisions, injustice, and abortion – to name only a few? The causes of such things are many, of course. But could one problem be that too few Christians are living as salt and light? Too few are willing to be that city on a hill? Too few are willing to witness to all that our faith has taught us?
G.K. Chesterton once observed, “It is not that Christianity has been tried and failed. Rather, it is that Christianity has never been tried”. May we be willing, not merely to try, but to truly be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and that city set on a hill. These are the gifts that God intends to give to all of creation – through us. Through us, as weak and sinful as we may be at times. This call is entrusted to us. For the love of God, and of all God has made, let us say yes.