WHERE IS THE SALT?

Salt has a bad rap for health reasons nowadays, but it has been the main preserver and flavourer of food for millennia, so prized that searchers toiled to the corners of the world to find it and bring it home. Salt enlivens, improves and enhances food.

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus calls us to be “salt of the earth”. What does he mean? He calls us to enliven, improve and enhance the world we find ourselves in.

In our Catholic parishes and schools, we have been well salted with Christian flavour and values, and Jesus calls us to preserve and cherish those flavours and values. We have much to exalt about in the infinite, intimate, absolute love of our Creator’s Kingdom.

But Jesus calls us further. It is not enough that we privately delight in our blessings, holding and preserving our values. He calls us to be “the light of the world” – to hold those values up high where everyone can see them. How silly it would be to light a lantern and then cover it up!

Being Christian is not an obscure interest to be brought out on occasion, but at the core of our being. We should be living those values so that people notice us and observe,

“See these Christians. See how they love one another!”

Jesus urges us to place our light high on a lamp stand where all can benefit. We should live and fearlessly proclaim his message of love wherever life takes us.

Busy and varied as our lives are, this is how Jesus calls us to live. A reality check is to stop occasionally and ask ourselves,

“If I was accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?”

Deacon Mark Kelly