Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I find that the Gospels on the Beatitudes are easy to overlook. I’ve heard them so many times; I can mumble them in my head and almost tune out. Of course, the beauty of the Gospels is that, if I do actually pay attention, there is always something new to hear or learn as I listen to them.
Take this week, for instance. Salt, lamp, good deeds. Got it. But do I? In actuality, this Gospel is incredibly challenging to me. Why? Because Jesus is calling me to DO something and BE something in this life. None of this sittin’ around and letting someone else do the work for me.
Salt, as you have undoubtedly have heard, was used as a preservative in Jesus’ time. So am I supposed to be preserving today? Well, I think there is still a lot of goodness in this world, regardless of what we read in the news. There are so many good people doing good deeds out there that we never hear about. I am called to support them and preserve their efforts because they are good and just and true. Their inspiring witness offers us strong evidence that the mind of Christ still inhabits the world.
Being a light to the world is even harder. This really does require action. In the first reading today, Isaiah lays it out pretty clearly: “Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them.” (IS 58:7) And when I do this, I must do it in a spirit of humility and service. Jesus reminds me that it is the Holy Spirit who guides me into being willing to perform acts of service, not my own will. So I need to check my pride at the door and open my heart to see and touch those in need.
When I look around at what others are doing – all the good works that no one hears about but happens every day, I know I have to find a way to get a little more involved. I know it’s not going to be easy. I have a hundred and four excuses why I’m too busy, can’t get there or can’t afford it. Following Jesus is not an easy proposition or an enviable position. God is calling everyone, not just a few chosen ones, to God’s self. But this is the life I have chosen and the calling I must follow.
As hard as it will be, as Sr. MaryAnn Mueller has said, I “must be the voice, the salt that preserves the values of inclusivity, truth, the interconnectedness of all, and the light that illuminates the significance of the common good to our divisive society and the world where individualism reigns.”
Every Day.