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Our Church

Friday, February 4, 2011

You are the Salt of the earth; You are the Light of the World!


Jesus said to His disciples: "You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world." (Mt 5: 13, 15)  This week is liturgically extraordinary!  Within the same week we encounter two very clear expressions of the mysteries of our faith:  The Presentation of the Lord and the 5th week in Ordinary Time's gospel!  Both celebrations commemorate Jesus as the Light of the World and how we, "through, with, and in Him" extend God's redemptive work.  On Wednesday we celebrated the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple.  I got to share this feast those who came to daily mass a 7 a.m. then with all the kids in CCD on Wednesday afternoon and evening.  Each person was given a blessed candle to carefully keep lit as a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world.  Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness that no sin, evil, disaster, or doubt can extinguish.  It was wonderful to watch the teachers light each student's candle.  I stressed with the children that it is no accident that they have the parents that they do, or the teachers, coaches, mentors, or pastor that they do.  God selected every one of these individuals to reflect the light of Christ to them.  Isn't this truth a cause for consolation and humility?  God chose you to be a parent or to have the parents you have because there is something about you that others need and something you need from each person in your life. (There is a duty each parent, pastor, teacher, coach, mentor has to live up to this duty, a particularly harsh condemnation awaits anyone "who would cause these little ones to sin.").  This is true, for us as brothers and sisters in the parish.  As a parish we are a family and have been drawn together by God to enlighten and encourage one another.


The liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation envisions a procession with lit candles into the Church for mass.  We are on a journey together to meet Jesus who is the bridegroom of the Church as our redeemer, Savior, and Lord.  Just as a spouse entrusts everything to his/her spouse so we must dedicate the whole of our attention and daily lives to Jesus!  Many of the children's candles went out once, twice, or several times.  I had given the teachers and adults tapers to light the votive candles of the kids.  I reflected with the children that when our faith seems to go out, we need the faith of others to reignite our faith and to encourage us.  We need a community to keep our light shining brightly and to increase its brilliance.  This was brought home when I asked the kids what they would have done had there been no adults to light their candles.  "No one could have helped us."  This is the message of the readings for the 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time! 


"Thus says the Lord:  Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your own.  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.  Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am."(Is. 58:7-9)  The Kingdom of God is not ethereal or solely philosophical, but is communal and concrete.  We are challenged to live the corporal and spiritual works of mercy through the lens of all that God has done and continues to do for us!  We live discipleship as salt and light to the degree that we encounter each other personally.  We are constantly called to be in the moment, to be Eucharistic: allowing ourselves to be blessed, broken, and given to others in ordinary daily ways!  To the degree that we allow ourselves to be salt and light for others do we realize the presence of God's Kingdom!  This week is truly to be an extraordinary liturgical experience!  We are called to see in Jesus the Light that illuminates us, enlightens us as a parish family, and then, "Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."(Mt 5:16)  Let the light shine!