Daily Mass Gospel Reflection- Staying Salty

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 02.05.23 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

Matthew 5:13-16

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus asks,
“If salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?”
That question ought to bother us as much today as it did Jesus’ audience long ago.
What he means is that a weak Christianity is a disaster for the world,
for the world depends upon the Christian Church
in order to become what it was meant to be.

Consider the truly awful gun violence in the streets of Chicago
and other large American cities.
A vibrant Christianity would actively get in the way of this affront to human dignity.
Vibrant Christian churches would rub salt into the earth of this violence;
vibrant Christian witness would be a city set on a hill.

Consider the tens of millions of unborn eliminated over the past fifty years.
I would be willing to bet that the vast majority of the mothers and fathers
of these murdered children came from a Christian background.
Why wasn’t their Christianity strong enough to function as salt and light?
Why wasn’t their faith illuminating enough to shine a light
into the darkness of what they were doing?

The clear implication is that without vibrant Christians,
the world is a much worse place.

[MurphsLaw]

Isa 58

Thus says the LORD:
Share your bread with the hungry,
shelter the oppressed and the homeless;
clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own.
Then your light shall break
forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;

+++Jesus said to his disciples:
"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."+++