FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
8 FEBRUARY 2026
Saul
of Tarsus came from a major education center for stoic philosophy. In Tarsus, he studied under the great rabbi
Gamaliel and was educated in pharisaic Judaism.
As Saint Paul, he does not come to the Corinthians with those high educational
degrees. Instead, he brings them the
person of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
He had encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and brings
his experience of the risen Christ “in weakness and fear and much trembling”.
Instead of using persuasive words of wisdom in which he had been trained as
Saul of Tarsus, he is guided by the Holy Spirit and power.
As Saint
Paul presents the person of Jesus Christ to the Christian community of Corinth,
the does the same to us, the Christian community of Saint Augustine in South
Bend. He tells us to embrace the person
of Jesus Christ and to welcome him into our lives as a first priority. Last Sunday, Jesus spoke to us and spelled
out eight different ways for us to make him a part of our lives and be blessed. That is what the Greek word “blessed” means –
to be happy or fortunate. In living the
beatitudes, we place Jesus Christ first.
We are happy when we embrace a poverty of spirit that frees us from
being burdened with too much stuff. We can
be happy even when we mourn. We mourn
when we suffer devastating losses. In
pouring out the pain of mourning, we trust that the Lord will keep his promise
and console us. We are happy when we
adapt a spirit of meekness and when we hunger and thirst for righteousness (or
justice). We are happy when we show
mercy, when we maintain the cleanness of our hearts, and when we act as
peacemakers. Jesus acknowledges that not
everyone will embrace these beatitudes and may even take steps to insult and
persecute us, as he himself was insulted and persecuted. But even in persecution, he promises that our
reward will be great in heaven.
Jesus
doubles down on these promises, these means of embracing him more completely in
our lives. He tells us that we will be
the salt of the earth. In the ancient
world, doctors did not warn their patients about consuming too much salt. In the absence of any kind of refrigeration,
salt preserved meat. Throughout the
Scriptures, salt symbolized the sealing and preserving of God’s Covenant to
meet with the people. Strangers were
given salt as a sign of welcome.
We are salt
for our world if we continue to witness to the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives,
just as Saint Paul did to the Corinthians.
Of course, it is important to continue our ongoing education in the
faith. But it is far more important to
show the presence of the Lord in living the beatitudes. We know his presence when we hear him speak
to us in his Word. We become one with
him when he feeds us with his Body and Blood.
Our divided, angry, and hateful world needs plenty of salty people. When I was baptized as a baby many years ago,
the priest placed blessed salt on my lips as a reminder of the importance of
living my baptismal promises.
We can also
be light for our world. The ancient
world did not have the ease of electricity that we have. But even the smallest dwellings had olive oil
lamps burning throughout the night to guide old people like me who need a
bathroom. Even the tiniest clay pot had
the potential to dispel darkness and provide guidance.
Each of us
was given a lit candle when we were baptized.
We are light for our world if we allow the light of Jesus Christ to
shine through us. Too often, we are
tempted to simply dwell in the darkness of our world and curse the darkness
with our minds and lips. The light of
Christ dispels that darkness, even in the smallest amounts. Just as this church was filled with the light
of candles at the Easter Vigil, the light of Christ can definitely shine
through our community. We are salt and
light, bringing a hope that is desperately needed.
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