”Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more”

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Matthew’s Gospel….Its a powerful message and rather brief…So I think the text is worth reading in its entirety:

“Jesus said to his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father”

Images of salt and light - This is what it means to be Catholic…Why salt?…Salt is a preservative…The ancient world did not have refrigeration so salt was used to preserve meat….We as Catholics in the world must preserve what is good, true and beautiful even as the the world disregards it…That means embracing the Truth with our lives in season and out of season…Jesus tells us - As he is always very clear…..”But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot”…..This implies action on our part - Right?….Let’s look at how light is referenced in the text…..The example of a holy life speaks loudly and it speaks volumes…This is what the world needs to see and this is why Jesus highlights this…..”A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden”……”Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father”…Notice, Jesus said that the glory must be given to God…..This is why I believe God chose many times throughout Scripture people who are the least qualified to do God’s work…..The weakest….The most simple…This is to highlight that the “light” that shines from their life has NOTHING to do with them…Its all from God……This is why Jesus picked 12 uneducated simple men to build his Church…To show the world that it was God, not their "resume" that produced the “light”….And that the light is accessible to ALL of us….How do we become salt and light? - That is the question today…..It begins with an unconditional YES….It begins with getting out of our own way…It begins with allowing Sacramental grace to work in and through our life….This my friends is VERY REAL and accessible to ALL….Because seeing is believing - So let the world see!

“Steady my footsteps according to your promise, and let no iniquity rule over me”

When I would travel to Kolkata, India to serve with Mother Teresa’s sisters…The day began with 6:00am Mass…After Mass all the volunteers from around the world would eat a simple breakfast together provided by the sisters…Once breakfast was finished…One of the nuns would say a prayer before we all took public transportation to the various centers to serve the poor…This is the prayer we would all say together…Hearing the Gospel today at Mass reminded me of it…The prayer was written by St John Henry Newman:

“Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with Your Spirit and Life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our souls. Let them look up, and see no longer us, but only Jesus! Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be ours. It will be You, shining on others through us. Let us thus praise You in the way You love best, by shining on those around us. Let us preach You without preaching, not by words but by example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for You.”

This prayer says it all…Being Catholic is not about “ticking a box" ......Its about being transformed…And such a transformation can be visibly seen providing both salt and light to the world….Catholics are to be in the world but not of the world…We are to walk among men, not to hid….Why?…Because seeing is believing….Our world needs to “see”….And this is why our world needs men and women who were transformed by Sacramental grace….No one is excluded…Sadly, the only way we are excluded is when we exclude ourselves and frankly that is a tragedy!......The witness of a holy life is powerful…..Its the only thing that can speak to a world that “digs its heals into a box” of its own choosing….This is why only saints change the world….Only saints…..And all the saints get their “light” from the same place….As St John Henry Newman rightful stated….”The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be ours. It will be You, shining on others through us”…This means we have to “plug in” to the source…..Because when the lights go out, darkness falls and if our light is darkness - How very deep will the darkness be?…..Look around - Do you “see” light?….If not - Be the light!

“Let your countenance shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes”

Today St Matthew at Mass in his Gospel gives us our “marching orders” as Catholics…We are to be salt and light to the world….Being Catholic means we must ACT….We must be different and that will NEVER happen if we are not transformed by Sacramental grace….But if we choose to allow God to work in our life…That transformation not only will happen but we will ACT….The two go hand and hand - Transformation and Action - In that order!…..Our job is to give an unconditional YES to God and then get out of our own way!….God is very real but people will never believe that unless they see Christ in YOU….We can speak until we are blue in the face….Seeing is believing - Let the world see - Its the only thing that can convince the world…That means we must walk the road to "Calvary” and strive to die to our self…..Its only when we embrace “the cross” that such a witness can or will take place……But when it does…The world is stunned and is speechless and many will be convinced that God is REAL…….”Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more”