Seeing is Believing

Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16

We regard salt as good for the different things it does.  Salt acts as a preservative so that food might be saved.  It also acts as seasoning to make foods taste better.  The same is true with respect to light.  Light is good because it enables us to see in the dark, that we might find things that are lost, find our way when lost, and offering us a sense of security and safety when the dark frightens us.  Salt and light do many good things for us human beings.  

In a similar way, we human beings must be salt and light.  We must do good things for others in the same way salt and light do.  We must be saving instruments as salt is to food.  We must illumine the light of others to help them when they are lost or afraid.  We must embody the Beatitudes by being merciful, meek, pure of heart, peacemakers, and striving for justice in the world.  To be good in the world is not so much about avoiding sin, but more so about doing positive good for others.  

Jesus says we are to let our light shine before others so that they may see our good works and give glory to God.  Perhaps the reason why so few people give glory to God is because they do not see good works in those claiming to be followers of Jesus.  If they see us not about the Beatitudes and the works of mercy, but instead about the striving for power, influence, and wealth, then the lack of faith is understandable.  Today is a day to be salt and light so that others may give glory to God. 

A New Commandment

Gospel: Matthew 5: 1-12

For far too long we have attempted to live a Christian life based solely on the commandments to the neglect of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount.  This omission is not accidental, but rather intentional.  For the Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount challenge us to a way of life that seeks perfection and a greater holiness, while a mere adherence to the commandments enables us to define downwards the moral law to a minimalism that runs contrary to the Gospel.

Consider  how we celebrate the fact that we have not killed another person ever in our life, adhering to the letter of the fifth commandment.  But the Beatitudes go deeper: do we have murderous and hateful thoughts about our neighbor? Are we meek and merciful? No.  We canonize ourselves for not committing adultery with another person.  But our lustful thoughts about other people suggest we are not pure of heart and far from holiness and perfection.  

We love the legalism of the commandments and the many loopholes and exceptions we can create in order to exonerate ourselves for our killing, adulterating, lying, and the like.  We hear little of the Beatitudes because they convict us of our casuistry and minimalism and much more besides.  Today and the coming days to follow, let us challenge ourselves to live the Beatitudes, to apply them to our life as Jesus does throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and imitate the Lord Jesus in living the Beatitudes in our life. 

For the Life of the World

Gospel: John 6: 51-58

The Bread of Life discourse in John's Gospel is presented within the context of Jesus feeding a large crowd with bread and fish, a discourse wherein Jesus refers to how God fed Israel in the desert with bread and quail.  Jesus now offers himself for the life of the entire world as spiritual food that is to accompany the material food we are to provide for people as well.  The mission of the disciple is to distribute both bread and fish for people's material needs, and the bread of heaven for people's spiritual needs.

The distribution of the Lord's body proceeds along the same lines as the distribution of the loaves and fish.  Jesus commanded the disciples to feed the people.  He did not command them to undertake a series of interrogations as to whether someone was worthy or not.  He did not ask us to look for reasons to exclude others from the table of the Lord.  He told us to feed others.  The table of Jesus was open to all right to the very end, and the offering of himself was for the whole world, not a select few.  

As we celebrate this feast of Corpus Christi, we are invited to reflect and discern ways that we can feed people with the material food they need, and how we might feed people with the Eucharist in their spiritual need as well.  Today is a day for us to discern how we ourselves might be the body and blood of Christ poured out for others in our work of mercy and care for others in the world.  Today is a day for us to become what we eat, to do what we say we believe.