Sunday, February 9, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In 2002, the summer after I graduated high school and before I entered seminary, Pope John Paul II visited Toronto, Canada for World Youth Day. I went with a youth group from St. Mary’s Parish in Longview. The theme for that World Youth Day was “salt of the earth and light of the world.” Pope John Paul urged us young people to live this teaching radically, and it made a big impression on me as I was entering seminary — in discernment and formation to give my life over to Christ completely and for the ministry of the Church.
In Matthew 5, the gospel of this Sunday, right after our Lord gives the Beatitudes, He uses the metaphors of salt and light to describe what our mission should be in the world. This teaching is not just for the youth, it is not just for the retired, it is not just for the ordained or professed religious — it is for all of us. The beautiful thing about these images – salt and light – is that they are just as relevant today as they were 2,000 years ago.
Salt gives more intense flavor to food, makes it pleasant, and preserves it. Once salt is added to the food, it disappears. As “salt of the earth,” we are called to enrich human values around us by the witness of our lives. As God’s salt, we bring Christ’s presence without imposing Him on anyone (this is how we “disappear” like salt). Yet, we have clear principles by which we are to “flavor” the world around us through hard work and fidelity to our families.
The creation of light was God’s first act in calling creation into being. Light is an image of the Lord Himself, as well as heaven and goodness. The absence of light, that is, darkness, symbolizes disorder, death, evil, hell. As “light of the world,” we have the mission to show Christ’s love in concrete ways to a world that is darkened by hedonism and materialism.
Although we all know we must be salt of the earth and light to the world, our witness is seriously wounded when we give in to the overbearing tide of secularism and selfishness. The contraception culture, the acceptance of living together without being married, the acceptance of divorce for any reason, the leaving of our elderly in nursing homes without visiting them, the voting for pro-abortion politicians — when Catholics are guilty of these things, we lose our flavor, we lose our light. The challenge of Jesus Christ is to be faithful to His teachings that He gives us through Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. This gives us flavor; it gives us light! And we must shine this light to all around us so that they may give glory to our Father in heaven.
Yours in Christ, Fr. Lowry
“As disciples of Jesus, we are called to become neighbors to everyone (cf. Lk 10:29-37), and to show special favor to those who are poorest, most alone and most in need. In helping the hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the sick, the imprisoned—as well as the child in the womb and the old person who is suffering or near death—we have the opportunity to serve Jesus.”
Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium vitae, 87. © 1995 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Fr. Nolan Lowry is the pastor of St Edwards Catholic Church in Athens, Texas