SUNDAY 5TH (A)
Mt 5,13-16
We continue with the first discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Therefore, it is a text that is intended to be given utmost importance. These are two comparisons that seem apparently unimportant, but they have a message of great depth for human life. The most important task of every human being would be to burn and illuminate.
Everyone who has attained enlightenment will illuminate. If a candle is lit, it necessarily has to give light. If you throw salt on food, it will be salted. But what do we mean when we apply the concept of being enlightened to a human person?
We are fullness of light, but it is not easy to become aware of it. We will only understand it to the extent that we discover that light. It is clear that we are not referring to any kind of material light or special knowledge. Rather, we refer to a human being who has awakened, that is, who has unfolded all their possibilities as a human being.
The gospel takes for granted the entire process of awakening and considers the disciples already enlightened and capable of illuminating others, and that is not what the Gospels say. Being awake cannot be taken for granted; we must undertake the task of awakening. It would be useless to try to illuminate others before we are burning.
Neither salt nor light are useful in themselves. Salt is only useful when it accompanies food. Light cannot be seen; it is absolutely dark until photons encounter a material object. Salt, to salt, must dissolve, disappear, cease to be itself. Lamps or candles produce light, but the oil or wax is consumed.
Salt acts from anonymity; it is neither seen nor appreciated. If a food has the precise amount, it goes unnoticed. If a food lacks or has too much, we remember it. It is not important the salt, but the seasoned food. It was so appreciated that it was distributed to workers in small quantities, hence the origin of the words “salary” and “wage-earner”.
Jesus says: you are the salt, you are the light. The definite article warns us that there is no other salt or other light. Everyone expects something from us. The world of Christians is not a closed and separate world. The salvation that Jesus proposes is salvation for all. The world must be seasoned and illuminated through those who follow Jesus.
When we are asked to be light, we are being asked for something decisive for our own spiritual life and that of others. Light always springs from an incandescent source. If you do not burn, you cannot emit light. But if you are burning, you cannot stop emitting light and heat.
We must illuminate, not dazzle. It must be at the service of the other, thinking of their well-being, not my self-aggrandizement. We must give what the other expects and needs, not what we want to impose on them. Christians are more inclined to dazzle than to illuminate.
In the last paragraph, there is a clarifying teaching: “So that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father.” The only effective way to transmit the message is through actions. Evangelizing is not about proposing an elaborate and convincing doctrine. It is not about forcing others to accept our ideology or way of understanding reality.
Only works born from an authentic attitude can illuminate. What is within me can only reach others through deeds. Every work done from love is light. If we settle for programming, no one will pay attention to us.
At the center of yourself there is a bonfire, you don’t need it to come from the outside. All energy is already within you. If you don’t smother the flame, it will illuminate everyone. The deepest part of yourself is the eternal. You are one with the universal Essence that permeates everything. Do not look outward, only within yourself will you find the Ultimate Reality that permeates you.
Fray Marcos
English version translated with AI