ISAIAH 58: 7-10
PSALM 111: 4-9 R. v. 4
1 CORINTHIANS 2: 1-5
MATTHEW 5: 13-16
Last week in the Beatitudes, Jesus presented to his disciples the essence of who the Christian is. And this is what Jesus calls us to be because today he tells us that we are to be salt of the earth and light of the world.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus begins his teaching ministry with the Beatitudes. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus ends his teaching with the last Judgment where he praise those who visit the sick and those in prison, who feeds the hungry and cloth the naked. They are the real Christians.
Faith is only real when we live out the teachings of God’s love. And so straight after the Beatitudes, Jesus calls his disciples to be salt of the earth and light of the world.
What do we seek as Christians? Do we seek great preachers and great spiritual experiences in prayer and worship? These are good for they can inspire us, strengthen and affirm our faith. But the greatest Christian experience is to live out the love Gods calls us to through the Holy Spirit.
Who for instance, who would we consider is the greatest of preachers and teachers? Jesus himself of course? Yet when we see the teaching he gave did little good for his disciples: they competed with each other for honour, they wanted to burn down the Samaritan town, they did not understand, and they were afraid.
But they changed…..they changed after Jesus’ Ascension, after their teacher had left them, after they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and led by that same Spirit they changed after they went out there and became a light through their own lives and sharing of their stories. The growing of our faith does not only take place only when someone teaches us but more so when we live out our faith and when we share our own stories.
There is a time in all our lives to be taught, strengthened and affirmed. But we cannot be children all the time. There comes a time when we must begin to live out what we have been taught.
The greatest of homilies might inspire us, but it cannot be compared to the smallest of sacrifices we make for love of God in our lives.
How is gentleness and compassion of God revealed through us? Where is the peace maker, the one who hungers for justice, the comforter of those who mourn reflected in my life?
Discipleship goes beyond a personal relationship with God but being a presence of God’s word and love, a light in the world. A person who knows the love of God will want to tell the world about it and share it with others.
A time comes when the teaching needs to become the experience that the disciple may become the teacher, through his or her witness.
Merredin Catholic Parish 