Memorial of Saint Barnabas, Apostle
Inspiration for my reflection on today’s Gospel comes, once again, from the wisdom of my kindergarten students this past year. During cafeteria duty I noticed that about once a week the kids’ meals came with a soft pretzel on the side. I love salty snacks and would have to say that pretzels are one of my favorite go-tos for a lunch side. But as I walked around I noticed most of the kids either didn’t eat their pretzels or picked the salt off them. Curious, and a little horrified, I asked a few of them one day why they did that. The answer was always the same, “It’s too salty. I just like it plain.”
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that a bunch of picky five- and six-year olds with developing tastebuds hadn’t yet learned to appreciate the saltiness of a soft pretzel. What I was surprised by, though, was how much this discovery resonates with today’s Gospel. After all, the kids had a point: too much salt is inedible. Too much salt, like spice, ruins the flavor of food. Too much salt is all-consuming and over-stimulating. That’s the unspoken side to what Jesus was getting at in the Gospel today.
He wants us to be salt for the world, or rather, flavor for the world. He wants us to spread the Gospel and be in solidarity with people in a way that brings out the best in our gifts, skills, and uniqueness. If we lose our saltiness, our sense of purpose or trust in God, we are flavorless salt. But no one talks about what happens when there is too much salt. This can be an analogy for many different things. Some people perhaps may “talk the talk,” but fail to “walk the walk,” as the saying goes, when it comes to spreading the Gospel. Other people may join groups or movements that spread the Gospel in a way that is not very open-minded or interested in connecting with people who think differently than them. Still more people may go to marginalized places in this country and throughout the world seeking to save people instead of being in solidarity with them.
All of these examples produce salty people, instead of people who are salt of the earth. They end up being all-consuming and over-stimulating for those who are receiving their message. Anger and a distaste for God’s word is the result, instead of an open reception to God’s love. I think we should take a lesson from my kindergarteners and learn that if kids don’t care for saltiness, then neither will the rest of the world.
—Sr. Rose Rucoba, FMI