Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I grew up India. American sports like football and baseball have been alien to me the fourteen years I have been in America. I am getting am too tired of being embarrassed at not knowing the difference between the Bengals and the Reds. The other day, Fr. Dave wanted to know if I would like to go with him to a Reds game and I said to him that I did not like football. So this Super Bowl, I decided to make a heroic effort to get into the great American sports tradition. I watched most of the Super Bowl. After the game, I pondered that I must continue to live in my blissful ignorance. I even watched the ads and the half-time show just as I was told. Even that hat did not do it for me. The only ad I really like was for alcohol and that made me cringe. I thought that Super Bowl LXVIII was boring, disappointing and over rated. I have the funny feeling that I will continue to embarrass myself for quite some time more.
Here, though, is my punch line: A disciple’s life cannot be like Super Bowl LXVIII. Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.” Since Jesus used contemporary imageries to make a point, I think, if he was here today he would have said, “Please do not be like Super Bowl LXVIII.”
Let me draw three practical implications from today’s homily.
1) First, the imageries of salt and light are about a relationship. Today’s gospel comes from the section we call the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus very clearly addressed this section to the disciples. Often, the Sermon on the Mount and today’s gospel are read and understood as the teachings of Jesus. But, that is only partially true. First and foremost, the Sermon on the Mount is about a relationship. That is why, today’s gospel ends with the words, “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” The incentive for being salt and light is to glorify God. On the reverse, it is a disciple’s relationship with God that makes us salt worth its flavor and light worth its flame. I want you to hear very carefully what Paul says in today’s second reading. He says, “I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Paul’s relationship with Christ – that is the key his entire ministry. So here is a modern day parable. If your relationship with God is like my relationship with American sports, then it is like salt that has list its taste. If your relationship with God is like my relationship with cricket, then your light is worth its flame.
2) Second, these parables are about how we imagine life. The passage about salt and light is also an invitation to imagine life from Jesus’ perspective. How do we imagine a successful life? What standards do we use to evaluate a meaningful existence? How do we define a good life? There are various measures for success. Some people define success by the amount of wealth they have, by how much power they have, by the influence they have on social media, by how high they get on the social ladder, by the neighborhoods they live in, by how many followers and friends they have on twitter and facebook and there are numerous other standards. And there is this one – “… that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” When it is time for us to meet our Creator, by which standard do we think we will be invited to stand before God? How fabulous do you think it would be if we could look back at life and see that our entire life brought glory to God? This does not mean that we do not have ambitions, or that we do not have savings or that we do not savor the good things of life. The point is the even as we seek these things we do it for the glory of God. Today’s readings, then, are an invitation to evaluate how we imagine life.
3) Third, these parables are about very concrete practical implications for a life that brings glory to God. If we read all of scripture we get numerous ways in which our life can bring glory to God. This Sunday, the standard is set by today’s first reading from Isaiah. He says, “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 again at the end of the passage he says, “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” The bottom line of all the readings today is this that a) like Paul our relationship with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit is a living, vibrant and strong b) that we imagine success in life as a life that gives glory to God, and c) that in our actions, our relationship with others, and in our speech we are caring and just. This is the life that gives glory to God.
- Fr. Satish Joseph