This liturgical year (Year A) of the 2013-2014, the feast of
the Presentation of the Lord and the
Candle Mass fell on the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time. And, it turned
out to make a smooth connection between the Presentation of the Lord, as well
as the Candle Mass, and the scripture theme for the 5th Sunday in
Ordinary Time. In fact, this liturgical year is as special as every 800 years
as Christmas made some crossover with Chanukah, sharing the common theme of the
light, as a metaphor of new hope.
Some important thoughts I discuss today, in light of the
feast of the Presentation of the Lord, as well as Dia de la Candelaria, and
the 5th Sunday in Ordinary
Time is the reciprocity of the salt and the light in our being, in light of the
bread-light dual nature of Christ. And, realization of this truth reminds us
the shared being between Christ and us.
Just think:
To make bread, of course, we need salt! Christ the bread and
the light. And, as the bread needs salt, Christ needs us.
In this mutual necessity to each other, both Christ and we
are the light.
It means that Christ is not really Christ without us, as
bread is not complete without salt.
That is why God chose to appear in our shape – the flesh,
through Jesus. It is also a counteraction to the fact that we are created in
light and image of God. There is a reciprocal relationship between our creation
by God in God’s light and God’s incarnation in human flesh: Jesus. And, this reciprocal relation is important to
appreciate our identity as the salt and the light in connection with Christ as
the bread of life and the light to the world.
Yes, the light! The light is one of the important theme I
want to discuss today in this blog!
The Setting of Jesus’
Proclamation of Our Identity, the Salt and the Light of the World, Based on
This Liturgical Calendar
I have come to realize that February is the shortest month
for a good reason. It reflects our
longing for spring, hoping that the remainder of winter is rather short for
spring to arrive soon.
In Chicago, January is usually the coldest month of
year. And, it sure was this year as the
temperature on the feast day of Epiphany, January 6, plunged down to almost
-30C! And, this cold month of January is long, as it has 31 days. It makes us
feel as if bitterly cold winter drags on and on. But, once we survived this long coldest month
of January, then, our mood tends to get
elevated with sings of spring that come with the arrival of the following
shortest month, February, though cold temperature still continues spills into
this month.
The Chinese New Year (The New Year Day of the Lunar
Calendar) is one sure sign.
One key theme in celebrating the Chinese New Year
is the joy of spring’s arrival. The theme of spring for the Chinese New Year is
also the psychological projection of our joy for new life, as we often
associate new life with spring. So, even
though the earth still looks barren upon and remains frozen upon the arrival of
February, our hearts leap ahead by acting as if the earth were lush with new
lives. This psychological aspect of the
Chinese New Year not only invokes images of new lives springing, such as eggs,
for Easter, which is about the resurrection of Jesus, coming out of his grave,
as if a chick would come out of an egg.
Hatchings of eggs is a typical image of spring, in addition to new buds
and flowers, as these are signs of new life – the power of life over deadly
image of winter.
But, the arrival of February also invokes that anticipatory
sentiment of Advent, hoping that the Messiah will come rather sooner. And, Advent is when day time gets shorter and
shorter – when the night time grows longer and longer toward the winter solstice.
In such a climate, we sure associate the one waiting for and whose arrival we
prepare for with the light. When
darkness gets longer – as the darkness advances, we long more for the light. And, Christ, the light, broke into the
darkness of the world, on Christmas day. By the time Christ is born, the day
time is already becoming longer as it’s past the winter solstice.
I know many of you find it rather strange that I bring up
Advent and Christmas in the month of February.
You don’t see Christmas trees and Christmas lights in February as such
things were already taken abut a month ago, upon Epiphany, which marks the end
of the Chistmastide (the 12 days of Christmas celebration). But, the fact that February 2 is the feast day of
the Presentation of the Lord sure reminds you that the Christmas is no strange
concept in February.
So, what’s Christmas got to do with February – this feast
day in early February, the Presentation of the Lord?
Well, it is not really a difficult theology to understand
the connection of this February feast of the Presentation of the Lord to Christmas in December. It is because that
the Presentation of the Lord marks the 40th day from the birth of
Christ.
If you recall the Gospel reading for the feast day of the
Presentation of the Lord, it tells that it was the completion of the 40-day
purification observance for Mary, the Mother of Christ. And, presenting her
male baby, Jesus, to God in the Temple on that day, breaking the postpartum
40-day purification period, is like breaking fast. So, you can imagine how
joyful it was for Mary and Joseph to see Mary done with her purification and
become able to come to the Temple with Joseph to present her male baby, Jesus.
It was like the light at the end of a long tunnel!
So, the feast day of
the Presentation of the Lord, the 40th day from the Nativity of the
Lord, February 2, is a day of joy, which is associated with the light. That is why, in Mexico, Dia de la Candelaria
coincides with the feast of the
Presentation of the Lord. For the same reason, in the USCCB jurisdiction, we
bless candles on this feast day to celebrate the presentation of the Lord. In
fact, in Mexico, Dia de la Candelaria is
the day to dress up statues of baby Jesus, Nino Dios, and bring them to church
for blessings. In a way, this Mexican
tradition is similar to the Filipino fiesta of Sto. Nino de Cebu, which is the
third Sunday of January – so close to the Mexican fiesta of Dia de la
Candelaria y Nino Dios on February 2!
So, the Messiah was born just when
the day light time was becoming longer, as Christmas was just past the winter
solstice. He was brought to the Temple
in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph, as Mary’s postpartum purification period,
according to the Mosaic Law, was completed, when it gets onthe hallway point
from the winter solstice to the spring equinox. It is also the Ground Hog Day,
another sign of spring amidst winter coldness in early February.
So, with this understanding, let’s
take a look at the scripture theme for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary
Time of the Liturgical Year A – the salt of the earth and the light of the
world in Matthew 5:13-16.
Jesus Calls Us to Be the Salt of the Earth and the Light of the World
The 5th Sunday in
Ordinary Time (Year A) Gospel story (Matthew 5:13-16) follows Jesus’ discourse
on the beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5:1-7:29).
Through his teaching on the
beatitudes, Jesus told the crowds what it means to be blessed. According to
him, humility (poor in spirit), mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst,
compassion, clean heart, commitment to peace and the courage to endure
persecution, are the factors of the beatitudes (blessedness). You may wonder how come someone mourning,
someone hungry, someone thirsty and someone being persecuted are blessed. To
answer such question, Jesus went on teaching about our mission to be the salt
on earth and the light of the world.
Moving from the teaching of the
beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) to the 5th Sunday Gospel reading on the
salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16), it is like
Jesus is telling us, “Hey, you thought you were not blessed because you don’t
have enough food, thus, you are always hungry? Don’t be fooled by what the
world tells you! Even though you are hungry because you don’t have enough food,
you are blessed! And, because you are blessed, you are the salt of the earth
and the light of the world!”
But, what does Jesus mean by
calling us the salt of the earth and the light of the world? And, how can someone who does not have enough
food for himself or herself can be the salt of the earth and the light of the
world?
How Can We Be the Salt
of the Earth and the Light of the World? Mercy and Compassion
So, how can we be the salt of the
earth and the light of the world? And, what does Jesus mean by the salt of the
earth and the light of the world in regard to our identity and mission?
These questions must be addressed
in order to understand Matthew 5:13-16. And, we can discern answers in
the first reading of the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year
A), Isaiah 58:7-10, as well as Matthew 25:34-40 and James 2:15-16.
Isaiah 58:7 offers the following
three suggestions:
Sharing our bread with the hungry
Provide a shelter to the oppressed
and the homeless
Clothe the naked, don’t ignore or
pretend as if they did not exist.
And, Isaiah further words, “Then your light shall break forth like the
dawn and our wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before
you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard”(Isaiah 58:8).
Just meditate on Isaiah 58:7-8 in
light of Jesus’ teaching on the beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) in order to
understand what Jesus meant by calling us and us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Isaiah 58:7 encourages us to be
compassionate – to be merciful to others, especially those who are in need. This
message of Isaiah is also echoed in James 2:15-16 and is further expounded in
Matthew 25:34-40.
Basically, what Jesus teaches here
is that God bless us as we are merciful and compassionate to others. Mathew
25:31-33 remind us that God will bless those who are merciful and compassionate
to others at the time of the judgement when Christ returns to complete God’s
salvation plan. And, more details about how this will happen are found in
Revelation. In fact, Isaiah 58:7-10 is a
part of Isaiah’s prophecy on God’s judgement and salvation. So, it is obvious
that practicing mercy and compassion is the way to enjoy God’s eternal
blessings to enter into the Kingdom of God upon the judgement.
So, that is why Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be
shown mercy”(Matthew 5:7).
Basically, Isaiah 58:7, James
2:15-16, and Matthew 25:34-40 are about practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy
in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). And, Isaiah 58:8 teaches us that
practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy (Isaiah 58:7, James 2:15-16, and Matthew
25:34-40) makes us the light of the world.
So, what Jesus could have meant by
saying that we are the salt of the earth is our calling to practice mercy and
compassion – to engage in the Corporal Works of Mercy. And, Isaiah 58:8 tells
that being the salt of the earth by practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy
makes us become the light of the world.
So, basically, being the salt of the earth and being the light of the
world are the same thing.
Isaiah 58:9-10 helps us further
understand what Jesus meant by Matthew 5:13-16, the salt-light dual and
reciprocal nature of our identity and mission.
Now, let’s go back to Jesus’
teaching on the beatitudes(Matthew 5:1-12) and think of the question: How can
we be blessed even though it’s hard to feel blessed when we mourn, when we are
meek, when we hunger and thirst, and when we are persecuted and insulted?
…………
Even When We Become Too Poor or Too Weak or Too Sick to Share, We Still
Can, as We Are Still Blessed, Thanks to The Salt and the Light Reciprocity
Even though when we feel we do not
have enough to share with others we can still share something from within. What
we share – our ways of practicing mercy – does not necessarily has to be
something material.
Have you ever felt touched by and
moved by a homeless person? Has a dying
person inspired you and given you something
too precious to be measured?
If you remember how the late
Cardinal Joseph Bernadine of Chicago practiced the works of mercy by sharing
his gift of peace when he was in pain and dying of cancer from 1996 to 1997? In
fact, Cardinal Bernadine still continues to share with us and with those who
were not born yet when he was alive on
earth, through his book, “Gift of Peace”, thanks to my friend, Jeremy Langford,
who penned down Cardinal Bernadine’s words of gem and edited them into this
fine book.
And, remember how we were touched
and inspired by Blessed Pope John Paul II when he was dying back in 2005? The way he lived the last days and hours of
his life on earth has moved us with immeasurable spiritual gifts.
An anonymous homeless person….a
dying person….the late Cardinal Joseph Bernadine…Blessed Pope John Paul II…even
though being too weak and poor to share something material –the corporal works
of mercy, they can still share different kinds of gifts – namely, what the CCC
defines as the spiritual works of mercy.
So, regardless of our material
power and wealth status, even though you are dying of illness or dying of
persecution…even though you think you
are too weak and too poor to share, you can share something – something only
you can as it is from deep within you. And, it is spiritual kinds of gifts –
the Spiritual Works of Mercy.
People who have gone through
difficult times in life tend to be more compassionate and merciful. And, they
are more likely to be generous in sharing, because their sense of mercy and
compassion is much deeper than those who have not had hard times in life.
Suffering is the best teacher for mercy and compassion.
And, Jesus, who suffered and died
with agony for us and for the world, is the best example to understand this
truth. In fact, Jesus was a poor man
without a permanent address. He sustained his life on earth pretty much on
mercy of others. But, he has given us more than we can think. And, he has given
us his very life!
So, now we can really understand
why even the hungry and the thirsty…even the persecuted and the mourning…the
meek, are blessed. And, we know that even though they seem to have nothing to
share, they can still share something abundantly and generously, especially
through the spiritual works of mercy.
In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus
indicated the reciprocity between the salt and the light of the world, which
we are called to be, in response to being blessed, no matter how rich
or poor…no matter how healthy or sick we are.
And, being the salt of the earth is more like practicing the corporal
works of mercy, while being the light of the world is more like exercising the
spiritual works of mercy.
|
Salt – Corporal Works of Mercy
|
Light -
Spiritual Works of Mercy
|
|
·
Feed the hungry
·
Bring drinks to the thirsty
·
Clothe the naked
·
Shelter the homeless
·
Visit and care for he sick
·
Visit the prisoners
·
Bury the dead
|
·
Counsel the ignorant – those who are in
darkness as they do not yet know Christ, who is the light
·
Convert sinners
·
Guide the confused
·
Comfort those who mourn
·
Show patience to sinners
·
Pray for the living and the dead
|
**Salt – Corporal
Works of Mercy is what pastoral care focuses on
Some Additional Thoughts on the Salt and the Light Reciprocity –
Connecting Jesus and Us Closer
We now understand how the
reciprocity of the salt of the earth and the light of the world enable us to
practice not only the corporal works of
mercy but also the spiritual works of mercy, regardless of our material wealth,
social status, health status and political status. But, the salt-light dual and
reciprocal nature of our being, as Christians, really puts us so closer to
Jesus, because both Jesus and we are not only corporal being but also spiritual
being. Through our mission identity of
the salt and the light, we realize that Jesus’ self-identification of his
Christological nature – being the Bread of Life and the Light to the World is
projected in our the salt-light identity.
Our Christian
Existential Mission Nature and Christological Nature
As Jesus retains both physical life and spiritual life, we
are also both physical and spiritual beings.
We certainly share this duality of Jesus’ life. It is because we are created in God’s image
and light (Genesis 1:27), and Jesus is God incarnate. Jesus continues to take care of us – our life
of duality, both physically and spiritually, through the Sacrament of Eucharist
(his body and blood) (Luke 22:19) and the Holy (John 14:16, 15:26).
Jesus himself revealed his dual nature of his life to the
disciples through the following words:
I am the bread of
life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never
thirst (John 6:35).
I am the Light of the
world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light
of life (John 8:12).
Jesus’ physical dimension of life nourishes us as the bread
of life, while his spiritual dimension of life guides us as the light of the
world.
Now, through the Gospel narrative of the 5th
Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 5:13-16), Jesus is reminding us that our
physical dimension of life shall be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) and
our spiritual dimension of life shall be the light of the world (Matthew
5:14). As Jesus is the bread of life and
the light of the world to us, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the
world.
It is also important to note that this salt-bread-light
connection between Jesus and us also tells that
both Jesus and we need each other.
Jesus sure needs us to be Christ, just as salt is needed to make bread.
And, we need Christ as our bodies need bread to live. And through this shared
necessity between Christ and us, both of us are the light of the world – though
Christ’s light is much greater than our light.
Physiological Truth
in Jesus’ Teaching
For those who are concerned about salt intake and blood
pressure, salt may give a negative impression. But, if you may remember your
high school or college biology (physiology) course, learning about the important role that
sodium chloride (salt) plays to sustain human life: sodium ions are
indispensable for cellular fluid retention and the nervous system’s adequate
electrochemical conduction, while chloride ions involve in maintaining the
adequate pH level of the body fluid, osmotic pressure , removal of carbon dioxide
out of the body (the Hamburgers shift), and digestion for constituting gastric
acid and secretion of salivary amylase.
So, when Jesus tells us to be the salt of the earth, he is also telling
us to be essential being for the sustenance of physiological life.
Called to Practice
the Corporal Works of Mercy by Being the Salt and the Spiritual Works of Mercy
by Being the Light
When Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth and the
light to the world, he is also telling about dual nature of our Christian life:
physical and spiritual. Our life is both
corporal and spiritual, as Jesus’ life is so.
That is why Jesus ascended into heaven both body and soul, as Pope St.
Leo IX said, "On the fortieth day after the resurrection,
he ascended into heaven with his body, in which he had risen, and his soul, and
took his seat at the right hand of the Father; thence on the tenth day he sent
the Holy Spirit" (Profession of Faith, 1053 A.D.)
In Catholicism, the bodies of the dead will rise (1
Corinthians. 15:35–44, 1 John 3:2) at the end of time, while retaining
souls beyond biological death, as long as we remain worthy to enter the Kingdom
of God. Thus, though our corporal part
of life dies, it will be restored in our resurrection for our body-soul eternal
life, which Jesus has promised (John 3:16).
“By death the soul is separated from the
body, but in the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body,
transformed by reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives
forever, so all of us will rise at the last day (Catechism of the Catholic
Church 1016).
"We believe in the true resurrection of this flesh that we now
possess" (Council of Lyons II: DS 854). We sow a corruptible body in the
tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body, a "spiritual body"
(cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44). (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1017)
**************
One interesting thought we can draw from the 5th Sunday Gospel (Matthew 5:13-16) in light of the works of mercy is that the Corporal Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy are reciprocal to each other, just as the salt on the earth and the light of the world are so, These are like the other side of the same coin to each other. Whether being the salt or being the light,
It’s so wonderful that we are
called to be and are, indeed, the salt-light reciprocal being, as Christ is the
bread-light dual being. As Christ gives both material and spiritual gifts so
generously, we are also inspired to be generous in sharing through the Corporal
Works of Mercy and the Spiritual Works of Mercy. For us to be merciful and
compassionate, we also need to be humble and clean of heart. Ultimately, this
is for us – for the sake of our salvation, as God bless those who practice the
works of mercy – corporal and spiritual, at the time of the judgement. And,
this is how we enter into the Kingdom at the end.
Let us represent Christ and share
Christ in us by being the salt and the light, through our corporal and
spiritual works of mercy out of love! Let us keep the light of Christ through our
works of mercy!
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