OMELIE / Omelie EN

09 feb 2020

09/02/2020 – 5th Sunday in O. T. - Year A 

09/02/2020 – 5th Sunday in O. T. - Year A 

Reading 1 IS 58,7-10 * Psalm 111 * Reading 2 1COR 2,1-5 * Gospel MT 5,13-16

When Jesus says His disciples: “You are the salt of the earth,… You are the light of the world!”, He lets us understand that He is happy about them and He rejoices for their life enlightened by His word.

These disciples are important, because their presence in the world is useful, nay, necessary. In fact they bring in the world a novelty, they bring something that otherwise would be missing. Jesus refers to this 'something'  with the images of the salt and the light. When His disciples are really disciples of His, so when they have Him as a reference, when they love Him, listen to Him and serve Him, when they let themselves to be judged by His thoughts, when they are happy and they are content with His presence, then they are “salt of the earth”: their life gives a new and enjoyable taste to every situation, makes  beautiful and harmonious every place where they live among men: family, relatives circle, village, place of work, society. Not only: they are then also “light of the world”, they let therefore everyone see the meaning of everything, the value God has given and gives to every creature and to everything that happens, and they show the direction to follow in order to live in full and to be for each other a gift and joy!

The first reading and the psalm describe the behaviour of  “those who fear the Lord”, a behaviour practiced by the Christians, who have seen Jesus' compassion for the poor and the weak, for the oppressed and the sick. Jesus has done nothing but living according to what have been advised by the prophets, and so He has given us also the example, even if that was way more than just an example! We, by living guided by His Spirit, attentive towards those around us, become truly light that gladdens the world: “light shines through the darkness”. The life of whom loves the mystery, of whom is full of care for the hungry, of whom is not ashamed to take in those who don’t have shelter, is a bright life: he who behaves in this way gives hope, makes the hearts rejoice, becomes a promoter and shows everyone the goodness and mercy of the hidden God.

The testimony of God, put forward by they who live with Jesus and like Him, can cost sufferings and cross, because He is the crucified. Out of this image, on which we lovingly focus our eyes, comes to us strength and courage. The apostle Paul says this too: he shows himself ready to preach the gospel of joy together with the weakness and the scandal of the news of Jesus' cross. Anybody could object: if you put your trust in someone who has died on the cross, who do you think will listen to you? Who do you think will take you seriously? Prudence and common sense would suggest that you need to talk about wellbeing, the wellbeing that everyone is looking for, so comfort, fulfilment of all those pleasures usually seeked and reaching your so-called full potential. But these instead only increase men's selfishness, and therefore their sufferings, burdens, unhappiness. On the contrary, the apostle talks about the crucified Jesus: Jesus, in fact, attracts at Himself from the cross, where He shows the true, selfless and gratuitous love, more than giving out promises of material and ephemeral wellness. He from the cross attracts those who are going to be saved, who will have renewed life, changed, brightened and made holy by Him.

Jesus is happy of His disciples' role, that can be compared to the good taste of salt that changes the taste of foods and preserves them, and to the light, that allows us to see where we are and to evaluate every situation in order to make the right use of it and not to be fooled. He is also worried for them though: will they lose flavour, as loses it the salt that is left a long time in a humid atmosphere without being used? Will they be tempted to keep hidden, and therefore become useless, as the light that, with silliness, was put under the furniture? Nobody would know what to do of Christians who are not sticking with Him, because they think only of their own survival: they would be useless to the world, that needs light from above to find the way in the maze of roads and to see the finishing line in order to run towards it without getting lost along the way!

The Christians will do anything to be united to their Lord, to keep in the heart His Word, and then joyfully they will accomplish those works which give space to the Father’s love and make God's praise resound in the world. They will be like a light on the chandelier, not in order to be admired, but to shed the light of God’s wisdom upon all things.