Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Light is one of the things we treasure most as human beings. We are comforted by it, we are nourished by i’s effect, both directly upon us, and obliquely through the growth it promotes in our environment. We seek ways to generate light to illuminate the darkness, and allow us to see clearly, and at least as importantly to act within the bounds of its illumination. This last statement can be taken both literally (yeah, try to work on that leaking drain without a flashlight), and metaphorically – we can bring light into others lives by our actions.
The enemy of light is darkness, which it expels with its presence. This is particularly true of the light that our actions in following Jesus’ message bring as a unique and pure illumination that drives away soulful darkness and gloom as it rises within us and radiates to those we care for as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Jesus asked the question, if you have a lit lamp, do you place it where it is hidden, or do you elevate it so that its light and warmth can radiate to all. There is more to this question for us than initially meets the eye. Our response to this is sometimes a dismissive “duh” – of course you would put it on a lampstand and elevate it to make it’s light useful. Yet, from the standpoint of it’s deeper meaning, we seem to miss the point completely. We ARE called to be that light, and yet we often mask its illumination to others. We leave it under the bed as we ignore the needs of those around us, we smother our potential light under a bushel basket when we deny our role as followers of Christ and instead pursue our own ideas. This is the real question – are we giving of ourselves? Our Lord takes the metaphorical descriptions one step further when he tells us we are the salt of the earth, and then asks with what can salt can be rejuvenated with when it loses its flavor? If it has no flavor, it is good for nothing. So too with us, if we lose the flavors of the life we were meant to lead, we are wasting the precious gift of life that God has given us, and we make a useless mockery of our very existence – we are good for nothing but taking up meaningless space. Yet with God, all things are possible. You and I certainly cannot bring the flavor back to a mineral, but God certainly can – he created it to begin with. It is only through a reemergence of His action in our lives that we ask for in prayer, that any hope exists.
We need to take the time in our lives to stand tall, and illuminate those around us who are still blind and groping for something to believe in, and bring them Gods word. We need to impart the needed flavor and nourishment to them through the sharing of the scriptures that nourish us. We need to not fear our place as believers who are called to do these things for others, and instead embrace the mission. Only this will take us from being hapless flesh which craves dopamine hits from our interactions, because we are so lost that we have nothing left but our addictions, and turn us into the manifestations of the body of Christ that call others to Him. To Live, to Fulfill, to Give!