1st Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10
2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its strength, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead it is put on a lampstand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.”
DAILY GOSPEL IN THE LIFE EXPERIENCE
The Dead Sea salt I had collected from my pilgrimages to the Holy Land had melted through years of storage inside a dark cabinet. I don’t know how this happened. What I know, at least, is that the salt in my collection started as sea water in the Dead Sea and crystallized into salt after some time of exposure to the scorching heat of the sun. What a rich source of spiritual insight! As the sun had an active role in the evaporation process that led to the crystallization of sea water into salt, so exposure to the light of Christ can turn me into “salt” of the earth. The only condition is that the light of Christ should be the proximate cause of such transformation.
In legal parlance proximate cause is that which acting first and producing the outcome either immediately or by setting other events in motion, all constituting a natural and continuous chain of events, each having a close causal connection with its immediate predecessor, the final event in the chain immediately effecting the outcome as a natural and probable result of the cause which first acted (Ramos vs. C.O.L. Realty, G.R. N0. 184905, August 28, 2009).
The same legal concept of proximate cause will allow Jesus to transform our lives in the same manner as the light of the sun transforms seawater into salt. As exposure to the sun is the proximate cause of the formation of salt, so our “exposure” to Christ will be the proximate cause of our transformation into salts of the earth. In plain language this means that our life of witnessing accepts no mediation. We must draw our identity and strength directly from Christ.
If we draw our strength and identity directly from Christ we persevere in almost any Christian undertaking. If our life of charity, for example, stems directly from our material abundance and not from our love of God, we won’t be charitable for long because greed can put a cap to our generosity. If our act of forgiving is drawn from practical considerations of buying peace, it won’t stand the test of patience when sooner the person we have forgiven will offend us the second time. The only kind of forgiveness that will last is one derived from the love of Christ which empowers one to die even for the enemies.
As salt retains its solid state under the light of the sun, so we remain strong in faith under the light of Christ. The implication is that we must strive each day to grow in the likeness of Christ. “Usque ad staturam Christi”
PRAYER FOR THE DAY
God our Father, strengthen our faith so that we may persevere in being the salt of the earth and light of the world. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.