FIFTH SUNDAY ORDINARY TIME – YEAR A

A good Sunday to all.

Jesus has made his proposal for a new man on top of a mountain. He presented it with eight beatitudes. It is as if he had said: If you become poor you will be left with nothing. All you have must put it at the service of the brothers and sisters. You shouldn’t accumulate things for yourself, but distribute them to make everyone happy.

In the end, when God evaluates your life, he will reach out and say: ‘congratulations, you are a successful person; You lived your life well.’ And Jesus presented this image of man not just with words, but he has embodied it in his person. Jesus is poor. He had nothing; not even a moment of his life. He is gentle, a peace builder.

Practicing these beatitudes, incarnating this image of a person is very difficult because it is the opposite to what people admire in the world. People appreciate the one who is rich, powerful, who has everything in life, who can afford all pleasures. This is the admired person and the kind of people everyone would like to be.

The person who embodies the ideal that Jesus presents, at the end of life he or she will be able to say ‘I have invested it well.’ But is it enough for the disciple to practice these beatitudes or does the Master also ask for something else? The temptation may be to seek personal fulfillment and limit yourself to this.

Formerly, it was taught in catechesis that it is necessary to think about one’s own soul, in the salvation of the soul. A bit like Buddhists who individually seek the liberation of painthrough personal illumination.

Those who have heard the beatitudes of Jesus should they always remain on the mountain to avoid being contaminated by worldliness by the way of thinking and acting of all? The beatitudes as Jesus presents them are not a model of life for a lonely person who wants to follow a moral goal, personal perfection.

They are the proposal of an alternative society, of a new world, which the disciple is called to build and is determined to collaborate in the design that God has for humanity. And today Jesus presents his disciples with a great mission: To bring his beatitudes to the world, by means of word and life.

And Jesus entrusted this work to his disciples using two comparisons. Let’s listen to the first one: At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the 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 salt of the earth”. You… who? To whom does Jesus entrust this mission? To a group of disciples who are taking the first steps to follow the Master. For example, Peter. He has not distanced himself from the way of thinking of the people of this world. He still follows the criteria and the values ​​that all follow. He wants to be an important, rich, powerful person.

It is exactly the opposite of the proposal of a new man that Jesus has made with his beatitudes. It is to this person, along with the other disciples, that Jesus entrusts the missionof bringing this ‘salt’ from the gospel to the world. We have heard the beatitudes of the Master; we have believed in these beatitudes… although later we find it difficult to put them into practice; difficulties arise in us to carry out what the Master asks from us. It means: get down the mountain and go to the world to bring this new taste of life.

And we ask ourselves: How can we be ‘salt of the earth’ when we are still tasteless, we have a precarious taste of the gospel? Jesus has entrusted it to us. We have already seen the first group, Peter, which was certainly not the perfect incarnation of the beatitudes.

But it is to this community of disciples that Jesus entrusts this mission. We feel difficulty in announcing the beatitude when we realize that we have not incarnated in ourselves this image of a new man. Although we are convinced of the proposed new man that Jesus has presented, and we try to embody it, we are afraid to go down the mountain and face the mentality of the world.

“World” means the common logic, the way of thinking that everyone has. We are afraid of confrontation, not because we are not convinced of the truth of the gospel, but because the proposal of the mountain is totally opposite to the thinking of the common people and we are afraid of being ridiculed. This is what happened to Paul, in Athens, when he announced the resurrection. Many laughed at him.

Although we are convinced, we are afraid to provoke this reaction because the way of thinking of everyone goes in the opposite direction to the gospel proposal. Therefore, we prefer to step aside, we lock ourselves up… a little like the Eleven in the Cenacle, the evening of Easter day. They were inside the Cenacle; they had locked the doors because they were afraid of the Jews.

It is an image of the fear that we also have to enter the world, of communicating with people. Jesus says: ‘you must go among the people.’ Salt does not exist for itself; it is made to be used. If it remains in the salt shaker, it is useless. It is as if it did not exist. If the Christian is locked up, if he or she does not go to the world, if they don’t mingle with people, it doesn’t work. Therefore, the first message of this comparison is a NO to escape from the world, to isolation.

Christians should not flee the world. You cannot lock yourself, in a kind of self-complacency… ´how good we are… don’t bother us.’ NO. The words of Jesus are a NO to isolation. In all contexts of social life, the Christian is present with a life different from that which is guided by worldliness.

The letter to Diognetus, from the second century, is beautiful. Present the life of our brothers of faith of the first generations.

They were immersed in the society in which they lived I want to quote a small text of this wonderful text to Diognetus. While they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their
own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvellous, and confessedly contradicts expectation They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign.They marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. They have their meals in common, but not their wives. They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh. Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, and they surpass the laws in their own lives. (Chapter 5)

Keep in mind that there is a danger on the part of the Christian when everything is seen as negative. NO. Let’s see now what are the meanings of the salt that Jesus uses. The functions of salt are multiple and probably Jesus was referring to all these uses of salt, used as a metaphor about what the Christian, who embodies the Gospel, must do in the society in which he or she lives. The first and most immediate meaning of salt is to flavor foods. From an ancient age, salt became the symbol of wisdom (‘sapere’, ‘sage’).

Today it is said that a ‘salty’ person… is a wise person. We also say that ‘a conversation is tasteless, insipid’ when it is boring, without content. When a wise person is present, the conversation reaches another level, it is more interesting, nice. In the letter to the Colossians Paul uses salt as a comparison: “May your conversations—the conversations between Christians—always be pleasant and salty” (ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος = jalati ertímenos = with salt, well-seasoned) (Col 4:6).

We have here a first application for our life. Christians who live in the midst of society,who live in contact with those who have made another choice of humanism. The way of speaking of a Christian is different from that which follows other criteria. Therefore, the Christian cannot be vulgar, trivial; obscene and rude language does not correspond to the manner of speaking of a disciple who wants to be salt in society, he or she must not fall into vulgarity. Then, salt gives flavor.

The gospel gives flavor to life. Therefore, it is not a question of a way of speaking more or less fine and educated, but of something much more important and decisive: the gospel, embodied in a Christian, brings to the world the true meaning of life. We know lives full of presumption, conceit, frivolity, of nonsense with which people try to cover their emptiness of life.

That is why the need for a Christian to enter this societ and witness the values ​​for which it is worth living; the values ​​that give life flavor and meaning. Let us think, for example, that, without the wisdom of the gospel, what is the point of joy… that soon after are finished. The pains, the smiles, the tears, the parties, the losses… even children, nephews, grandchildren…

If our life is meaningless, why do we bring them into the world? The only hope that these people can bring in this world is only the passing joy. These are the ‘joys’ suggested by the Qohelet: ‘Eat, drink, enjoy the goods in the few days of life that the Lord gives us.’ Life can be: tasty or insipid. The ‘salt’ of hope; the ‘salt’ of the motivations of living.

It must be the gospel announced by the Christian in the society in which he or she lives. We must make sense of this life. We are passing through this world and we have a destiny. If the perspective of an ultimate destiny does not exist, then you have to be content with the short-term joys. The second use of salt: preserve food.

At that time, there were no refrigerators and to prevent spoilage of food and preserve it as much as possible, salt was used.. Let’s think about cheese, meat, fish. It is believed that the Egyptians were the first in preserving meat, fish and other food, with salt, already 2000 years before Christ. Strabo, a Greek historian, already mentioned in his geography a city on a lake: Magdala. It was called: Tarichaea, literally the place where the fish is processed. There the fish was salted which was then distributed in all the markets of Galilee. A lot of salt was taken from the Dead Sea to Egypt.

In Jesus’ time, salt was sold as a block in the markets. It was something very valuable. In Sepphoris, for example, this salt was sold. And, because salt prevents food corruption, it has been spontaneously related to moral corruption and also as protection against negative forces, against the evil spirits. In the preparation of holy water it was used to put some salt as protection against all evil forces. Some also use it today in this regard when salt is put to immunize bad luck and spells.

The Christian is salt of the earth also in this sense. He or she is called to prevent corruption with his or her presence; not to allow society guided by bad principles to decay into decadence. It is not difficult to verify, for example, that when a society does not appeal to these evangelical values, conceptions of life that are dictated by the wisdom of the world are easily disseminated. That is stupidity and leads to dehumanizing behaviors.

Some examples: In a society where the person is worth for what he or she produces, where what counts is money, accumulated assets… so how much is the person worth? As we said worth a pair of sandals or, as Jesus says, the person is worth less than a lamb because it is money, a production that counts. In this society, the Christian prevents corruptionRemember that the fullness of life of the person, his or her joy should be the reference point of every option.

Another example. In a world where the inviolability of human life is questioned, from its beginning to its natural completion, the Christian remembers the sacredness of life. Even more, where fatherhood and motherhood are presented as a right that can be achieved by any way, in this society, the Christian demands unconditional acceptance of life, which is a gift that God makes to the world.

Also, where sexuality is trivialized, marketed, when it comes down to genitality that can be used how and when, anywhere, as one likes… because times have changed, we are no longer in the Middle Ages, where coexistence, adultery is no longer called by their names,and are taken as emotional compensation. The Christian prevents the corruption of a societythat puts the family in crisis. Christians call to the sacredness of the male-female relationship; God’s project about spousal love. Dialogue, encounter, planning, exchange of love as a gift to enrich and make the other happy.

This is the proposal of realization of human sexuality and the Christian must embody these values ​​with life and also with words. In a society where one’s satisfaction is sought, the Christian must bear witness that life makes sense when one is interested in the other. Therefore, Christians educate their children in these values; they educate them to self-sacrifice; not to seek self-interest. Naturally, the Christian does not impose these values and do not attack those who do not share them. They practice them with joy because they are convinced that this is the true life.

The third use of salt. Eating salt with someone meant sharing the table, therefore, making friends with those you share. There is a Hebrew expression: ‘berejta menaj’ = which means ‘salt alliance.’ It was the image of an alliance that didn’t break. The Christian is salt in the world also in that sense; they remember the unconditional love of God, the covenant that He has made with man and that does not depend of our response. His love is unconditional. “He made a salt alliance with humanity.”

I think of Christian husbands who are called to give precisely this testimony of unconditional, unfailing love. Jesus goes on to say that ‘salt can lose its flavor.’ But chemists tell us that this is impossible. Salt does not lose flavor. But here the Greek verb ‘moraino’ is used: μωρανθῇ – moranthé, which means ‘to hallucinate’, ‘to freak out.’ ‘If salt goes crazy.’

The Christian can hallucinate, that is, they can completely lose their taste about the option of evangelical life they have made. He no longer presents himself as a true disciple,but think like everyone else, therefore, think, act, talk like everyone else does He’s ‘hallucinating.’ That is, he is returning to the wisdom of this world that for God is madness.The only way to lose the salt flavor is to mix it with any other food. It makes you lose purity, the identity.

The gospel has its own taste. And you have to keep this taste. It is not altered, otherwise, it is no longer a gospel. Therefore, nothing can be added, it cannot be modified, it cannot be adapted. You cannot say: “yes … but”. It cannot be softened, toned down, make the demands of the gospel less demanding and more practicable. If one behaves like this, it is no use at all. It is no longer salt if it loses the evangelical flavor And, therefore, we must pay close attention because today’s society pushes us to adapt the gospel to what everyone thinks. NO.

The authentic Christian maintains his own taste. Let us now listen to the second comparison used by Jesus. “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 lampstandwhere 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.” “

You are the light of the world”. For a pious Israelite, this is an unprecedented statement.In the bible, light is always a positive image. Darkness is always negative. God is light. Psalm 104 says: “God is wrapped in light like a mantle.” And in the New Testament, John’s first letter, at the beginning, says: “God is light and in Him there is no darkness.” And this divine light came down to the world to illuminate our darkness. It is the light that shines on the face of Jesus of Nazareth who shows that God is love and illuminates our darkness, which is hate, violence, lies, injustice. This darkness has been illuminated by this light of Christ.

In the prologue of his gospel, John says: “The true light that illuminates every man was coming into the world. The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it” (Jn 1:5). In the end, this light will end up conquering, dissolving the darkness that gravitates over the world.

And, in fact, Jesus, in his public life, presents himself as light: “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn 8:12). The fact that Jesus presents himself as light can be scandalous in front of his people,but what is shocking to us is that he says: “You are the light of the world.” Us? Who? How did Jesus have the courage to call his disciples and us with them, ‘light of the world’?

If we review the personality of the twelve apostles, we will see that Jesus calls them “people of little faith.” This is just a small example of adhering to Jesus’ proposal. Let’s remember what happened in Capernaum; when they arrived home Jesus asked them: ‘What were you talking about on the road?’ And they did not respond. They remained silent because they were ashamed. They had argued about who is the first. They had not understood the image of a new man presented by Jesus in the beatitudes. They have trouble accepting the face of the new man presented by Jesus.

And, even more, during the Last Supper, they are still discussing who is the greatest and the first among them. Even after the resurrection, they are still full of doubts. And when the first Christian communities arise, we will see that there are still disputes, discussions,misunderstanding between them.

These are the people who must be ‘light’, that is, bearers of the light that is Christ. Jesus is addressing us. We are conscious people and we must be: aware of our fragility, weakness, meanness. But this should not lead us to heartbreak because Jesus trusts us He has entrusted his light to us. Maybe a little sparkle, but it is always the light of Christ. And if one strives to embody the gospel in his or her own life in that person, the face of Christ shines. As Paul says in the letter to the Galatians: “It is not I who live, it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:19-20).

The comparison of the light completes the image of the salt. Salt mixes with food, but the light does not mix with darkness. The light shows what is good and what is dangerous; what is edible and what is poisonous; what we do well and what we do wrong. It shows which is the safe way and which is the dangerous way, the risks because one can fall into a ravine.

Therefore, in discerning what is good and what is bad. The disciple is called to be light with his word and with his person, with his life. Let us reflect on the light of this true man who is Christ. A Christian cannot reflect in his life the light that comes from cheap television programs, of the scenarios where the ‘stars’ of this world are exhibited.

The Christian does not shine from the emptiness of lives that many admire. NO. The Christian does not shine with this light. The Christian is a reflection of another light. Jesus now introduces another biblical image: “A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Therefore, this light must be well visible. The comparison that Jesus uses of the city on the mountain is not to invite the disciples to be seen, as it has been done so many times. As Jesus said: “Do not practice your works to be admired by people…. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing… do good and this is enough” (Mt 6:3-13).

Jesus’ request refers to a well-known text of the prophet Isaiah which presents the city of Jerusalem, on the mountain. Therefore, well visible to all; and all peoples will go to Jerusalem to hear the word of the Lord. Jesus comes to say: Jerusalem will not be the city where all peoples will go but to the community of my disciples where all peoples will walk to receive the light that guides the way of their lives.

And another image: “A lamp is not lit to put it in a drawer, but it is put in the lampstand so that it illuminates all in the house.” The ‘drawer’ was the measure of the grain. They did not use the kilos but liters. What does this comparison mean?

It is important to be careful not to measure the gospel with our human criteria, with our measures. Jesus tells us that Christians must be careful not to obscure the light of the gospel.That is, they should try not to hide those texts that are annoying because they are difficult to practice: the sharing of goods, unconditional forgiveness, selfless love even with the one who does evil to us and chases us. One tries to hide them because they clash with the criteria of our justice. The light of the gospel is not hidden.

The gospel is the light, first of all, for those in the house, that is, before shining before others, we must have received this light. “Let your light shine before people too, so that when they see your good works….” But the original text does not say ‘good works’ but ‘beautiful works.’

The Christian must be a ‘beautiful’ person. We know that beauty is irresistible. When you see a ‘beautiful’ person, you immediately ask yourself ‘What can I do to be as ‘beautiful’ as that person?’ Jesus wants his disciples to be “beautiful” people, to be attracted by their beauty.

The Christian is one that disturbs, but is not invasive. A Christian does not disrespect the other’s freedom, does not want to indoctrinate, but wants to fascinate with the beauty of who has received this light that makes people bright, splendid. If the tone of the voice rises, it no longer fascinates.

We must be prepared to speak with more humility, without exhibitionism, always keeping in mind this beauty that must shine on our face. It is Peter’s recommendation in his letter when he tells Christians that “we are strangers and exiles, I urge you, not to indulge you in selfish passions that wage war on the soul. Live a blameless life among the pagans; so, when they accuse you falsely of any wrong, they may see your good works and give glory to God, on the day he comes to them” (1 Pe 2:11-12).

Christians must make a break with worldliness and live in a “beautiful” way. They must show the pagans that adherence to the gospel makes us beautiful people, appreciated, even for those who do not follow the gospel.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.