HOMILY FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR--2/6/11--SALT OF THE EARTH

 

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME–2/6/11

     by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, STL

READING: MATTHEW 5:13-16

I.  You Are The Salt Of The Earth

A. Bet you have never heard a homily on salt before. If you thought about which image I might talk about today, you probably would have chosen the image of a light either under a bushel basket or on a stand for all to see. But, no, I’m going to talk about salt.

B. See, we take it for granted. But in Jesus’ time, it was precious. In fact, in some places in the Roman Empire, it could be used for money–that’s how precious it was. And why? Ever tasted something without salt–it’s awful! In the days before refrigeration, salt was one of the few ways to preserve food, so you needed it in order to keep from starving. It makes the bland, tasty; it makes rottenness go away.

C. So what did Jesus mean when he said, "You are the salt of the earth"?

1. First of all, the salt that is in us is an attitude, an openness to the Word of God, Christ’s message. When we season our lives with this attitude, God can live in us and help us through life. Life makes sense. Without this attitude, we live the life a spiritual couch potato–dull and meaningless.

2. Second, when we have this salt, this attitude in us, we are resistant to corruption; namely, the evil that is in the world. We are preserved from rotting within from the evil that is without–you know what it is of which I speak. Lust, pursuit of wealth, focus on material goods, believing that this world is all there is, dulling our minds with stuff that simply entertains us without educating us.

3. Third, salt can be destroyed. If it gets wet, if it is not cared for, it becomes tasteless and has to be thrown away. Same way with the salt, the attitude in us. If we do not care for our soul, for the attitude in which we approach life, we will become tasteless, lose our flavor. Look at Judas. "He deteriorated into this sort of tasteless salt. After he had rejected divine wisdom, having changed from [a friend to an enemy of Christ] an apostle into an apostate, he not only did not help others. He became wretched and useless even to himself." (Chromatius, ACCS, 93).

4. Jesus believes that when we are the salt of the earth, we can restore flavor, tastiness, to all of Creation. We can dispel the rottenness in the world, the evil, make things fresh and new again. Clearly, that’s what we are supposed to be doing. But we are not, are we. Few of us wake up in the morning saying, "What can I do for God today; how can I help my fellow man." Before we can restore the earth, we ourselves have to be restored. How do we get back our saltiness, how to we get back a good attitude?

II. Getting The Flavor Back

A. It’s clear from the early Church fathers, teachers of the faith, that our souls were made salty, we were given the right attitude when we were baptized by water and received the fire of the Holy Spirit. The power of the Gospel and the teachings of our faith have been handed down to us through the years, providing that attitude that flavor that makes us the salt of the earth. So if we feel a little tasteless, if we have lost the spice of life, the zest for living, the zeal of our faith, we need to get it back. We need to become salt again. We need a chance to recover our taste for goodness, for holiness, for God.

B. St. Paul tells us how to do that. In our second reading, he has told the Corinthians that worldly wisdom is not the hallmark of Christianity. In fact, many of the new Christian converts look like fools to the world. And his words are certainly not written by the great writers of his age. The world, says St. Paul, is great at seeming to have all the answers because it is slick, and refined, and, if he were in our day and age he would say, technologically smooth and cool. But St. Paul says Christians and Christianity are like salt–simple, unremarkable, yet full of power. In fact, he says that the truth of Christianity is demonstrated in its actions–in Spirit and in power. What he means is, if you want to know the truth of Christianity then look to its results, its actions, what it actually does. And he thinks that’s a convincing argument. So do I. If you, the salt of Durand/Irish Grove, no longer have taste, or strength, or the power to chase away all that is rotten and evil, here’s how to get it back. Go back to the basics of the faith, and live it.

1. Care about people. Lots of folks care about others, but none so consistently as us. When I was sick, people wrote me, sent me cards that lifted me up, prayed for me. Even when I was miserable and depressed, I was carried by those thoughts and prayers, knowing I was not alone. Those who cared were the salt of the earth–real Christians. Just by caring for someone else, we can restore the lost zest of our faith.

2. Focus on Christ through prayer. The world has a lot of voices, each saying it’s right and the other wrong. It can be confusing, so much so that many might just throw up their hands and say "I just can’t trust anything or anybody." St. Paul says to focus on the Cross of Christ, and our minds will be clarified and our spirits uplifted.

3. Get strength from the Eucharist. We cannot walk this world alone and hope to stay true to Jesus. It’s just too hard to do it by ourselves. By coming together at the Eucharist, we meet others who believe like we believe and we receive our God in the bread and wine that has been changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. That’s real power and it gives us strength to face the burdens of the day.

C. Just these three things can restore our souls. There’s more of course, but these three things are things that just about everyone can do. Something so simple as salt is a staple in the lives of all humanity. As Christians, good practicing Catholics, we are the salt of the earth to a world that needs some direction, some love, some hope. Never underestimate your power. And never forget that if you feel burnt out, away from God, all alone, you can be re-energized. St. Paul preached this in the homes of all those Corinthians. His was a simple and powerful message. It has not lost its flavor over the centuries. Simple is best. Let’s show the world what we’ve got.

　

　

 

 

 

 

Comments

[gilberto sapa magno]

i like your homily Msgr Eric about salt it gives me power just by reading your homily we want more specially in the foreign land indonesia i am a pilipino working in bintan island indonesia thanks a million msgr eric. . .gilbert