Mt. 5: 13-16
One day a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to collect money to meet his schooling expenses, felt so hungry but he did not have sufficient money to have a sufficient meal. Nevertheless, he decided to ask for food from the next house. Anyhow, when a young lady opened the door, his self-respect did not allow him to ask food instead he asked for a glass of water. However, the compassionate host understood that he was hungry and provided him a full glass of milk. He drank it slowly and felt contended. He asked the lady: “How much do I owe you”? She told him: “Our mother taught us that never to accept payment for an act of kindness.” He said: “then I thank you from my heart…” As Howard Kelly left the house, he not only felt but experienced the light and warmth of god’s love at the core of his being. He wanted to give up and quit from the struggles of his daily life. This act of kindness filled him with hope to face the challenges of his life.
Several years later that young lady became severely ill. The local doctors tried their best to diagnose her health issue and suggest treatment for her. Nonetheless, they could not succeed. They referred her to a super specialty hospital in the city. A well-known specialist Dr. Howard Kelly was called to study her rare case and when he heard about the place from which this lady came from, a strange light filled his mind. Immediately, he went to consult her and for his surprise, he recognized that graceful face that filled his heart and stomach with her unparalleled kindness. He decided to provide the best of his effort to save her life. He offered the best of his care and in the end, she won the battle. The lady was saved from the hands of death. He asked the business group to hand over the bill to him before issuing it to the patient. The lady was so frightened to open the bill because she knew that she would take the rest of her life to pay back the hospital expense. Yet, she decided to open the bill. For her pleasant surprise, towards the end of the bill, she saw a handwritten note: “Paid with one glass of milk,” (signed) Dr. Howard Kelly. Tears of joy flooded her eyes and she too experienced the taste of God’s care and warmth of his unconditional love manifested through Dr. Howard Kelly… An event that reminds us of the spirituality of the salt and the light…
In today’s gospel, Jesus uses the analogy of the salt and the light to enlighten his followers about the responsibilities of discipleship. The salt is an easily available commodity and cheep. However, we cannot imagine life without salt. When we analyze the food habits of various places, we understand that it varies from culture to culture. Anyhow, the use of salt is most common in all cultures. When Jesus tells his followers: “You are the salt of the earth,” what does He mean? Every disciple is called to live the nature of the salt in his/her day to day life. What is it? The answer is so simple, just like salt add taste to the food, the disciples are called to nurture the life of others through their nurturing presence. The ‘saltiness’ of the salt is due to its essence. The disciple should derive this saltiness from the person of Christ himself.
We also need to meditate the Word “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn.15:5) It is our relationship with Christ that makes a disciple effective in all his/her endeavours. All the ministers of the church belonged to the various denominations could agree to this fact. The moment we started to rely on one’s power and cut down oneself from the person of Christ, we lose our saltiness. The spiritual masters used to say in spirituality there is no static phase either you will be growing to the person of Christ or moving away from him. Let us try to preserve and increase our saltiness that is becoming more and more effective in our life and ministry by relying on his grace.
The nest analogy that Jesus uses is that of light. “You are the light of the world.”(Mt.5:14) I believe we also need to keep in mind the similar verse of Jesus “I am the light of the World.”(Jn.8:12) Christ enlightened us by being a light to us especially in our moments of darkness. We too are called to do the same, be another light like Jesus for the sake of others. The light becomes effective when it shines in public, guides the way with its radiance and also provides warmth. We are called to become a light like Christ who by his way of life, conquered darkness, showed humanity the way to His father and surrounded us with the warmth of unconditional love. Let us glorify our Heavenly Father by being the salt and the light like Christ.