by Mr. Francis D'Souza
Matthew. 5:14
In one of the talks Anastasia spoke to you on the ‘Power of the Resurrection’. And I want to summarize that. You know the greatest feast of the Christian calendar is not our Parish feast, its not our village feast, its not even Christmas, but Easter is the greatest feast of us Christians, because if Jesus had not risen from the dead, the birth of Jesus at Christmas, would have been the birth of another below the poverty line child. Insignificant, that birth would have been, but because Jesus rose from the dead, it has gained the importance that we celebrate today.
Proclamation of The Resurrection:
We are here today, not because of Christmas. We are here today because of Easter and we can say that “We are the Easter people and Hallelujah is our song”. This is the Proclamation we must continually have. You know when Jesus rose on that first resurrection morning, the Marys in Matthew 28 had gone to the grave with spices and they were wondering who would open the grave for them. There was this angelic being sitting on the massive stone already rolled out and spoke the 4 most important words of evangelization, 4 monosyllables.
The angel says to the Marys,
• “Come”,
• “See”,
• “Go” and
• “Tell”.
You are proclaiming and we are proclaiming because it is our responsibility to proclaim the Good News and the Great News that Jesus is no more dead, but Jesus is alive. He has risen and so scriptures have come true and we can rely on every of those 10000 promises God has made in the Bible that we also who have been buried with Christ in Baptism will rise with Him on the last day.
Living Out the Resurrection:
Proclamation is only one part. There’s another part to it and the other part is living out the Resurrection. If you live the theme, you are proclaiming the Resurrection message in your life. We have to be living the power of the Resurrection. And so, in the last year, our prayer group 16th anniversary theme, if you will remember was taken from St. John’s Gospel, Ch. 10 vs. 10. The first part says “The thief comes to kill, steal and destroy” but the second part says “I came that you may have life and life in all its abundance”. And that is what JTRV and the Retreat team has been working towards that goal to cooperate with Jesus even as He has promised to give us an abundant life.
Before I go to this year’s theme, Matthew. 5 “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD & SALT OF THE EARTH”
I want to talk to you about the condition of the world. We are living in a time, which is called a sin-darkened world. You know Padre Pio is credited with these words. He says “If sin were to be converted into matter, lets say like smoke or something of that kind, it would be so much that the entire earth would have been covered blocking the sunlight from coming to the earth”. And that’s exactly what it is; the sun’s light is not reaching the earth because we have sinned so greatly. We are living in a very pessimistic society, we are living in a very negatively focused society, and we’re living in a spiritual gloom. Romans Ch. 1 tells us, Man is inventing new ways to find pleasure. Very, very painful words, very, very sorrowful words, very were pitiful words. Man is inventing new ways to sin. The world of selfishness, the world of inequality. I was reading about an evangelist in Peru. At a signal light he saw a child of about 4 years, drenched in the rainwater trying to clean the car window glasses. Some people gave her coins, other people just honked to her to get out of the way. There was that division, there was that inequality. And that evangelist asked God at that moment, “God where are You, why this poverty? Why is this child suffering?. This child will probably go home and catch pneumonia, why aren’t you doing something about it?”. He is telling God in his frustration. And that night as against his rage and his emotional appeal, God speaks to him in a tender voice. He says, “Child, I have done something about it, I have created you”. There is selfishness, there is deceitfulness, there is decaying, there is perishing. The world is decaying; the world is perishing because the wages of sin finally is death. And so you see the whole scenario, the world is in darkness, the evil one is in control of the world, he is ruling the world.
This is what John, 5:19 says, “We know that we belong to God”. We all belong to God, even though the whole world is under the rule of the evil one. Ephesians 6:12 says “For we are not fighting against human beings, but against wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world., the rulers, the authorities and cosmic powers of the dark ages, the world is being ruled by evil and that’s why we see so much of pain and misery. Look at Philippians 2:15, “So that you may be innocent and pure as God’s perfect children who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people, the world is full of sinful and corrupt people and there he is giving us the call once again you must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky. On one side we are God’s people, we belong to God. On the other side we see the sinful scenario, darkness over the whole world. Even when Jesus was crucified and He was dying the Bible says and all the synoptics agree, there was darkness over the earth. This is the world we are living in friends, this is the truth of the Word of God.
We are living in a sin-darkened pessimistic, negative society and the world. And in that setting Jesus has given us the privilege, something very incredible He has done. While He was on earth, He called Himself ‘The Light of the World’ John 8:12 “I am the Light of the World”. In John 9:5 He says, “While I’m in the World, I am the Light of the World”. Jesus is saying “It doesn’t matter what is the darkness over there, but remember I am the light of the world. And this is what Jesus tells you and me. We who are coming here week after week, we are reminded, we’re not just a people who will be a praising people within this building over here but we are called to be lights, we’re called to go out and be lights of the world. And as I told you in the beginning, if only we live as lights of the world and salt of the earth, it will be a fitting way to proclaim the Resurrection of Jesus. We’ll be living as children of the light. And we see how this point gets clear. What are the functions of light ? Its good to go back to written matter sometime because it facilitates a systematic explanation.
The functions of light are 3 fold.
Light Brings Order :
Just for our study, if you remember the first 10 words of the Bible. You must be knowing them by heart. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’. The first 10 words of the Bible. But the first of God’s creation was “Let there be light”. The whole world was in a chaos, there was confusion and the whole cosmos was in a chaos. And God said, “Let there be light”, because light brings order. You know most of the evil things they say are done in the night because it is dark. And so when the light comes in, the light brings in order and that is why John talks about the true light that was to come into the world in the person of Jesus. So the first thing the light does is that it brings order in our life. If there is no order in your life, check if you’ve got the light of Jesus in your life. If we are going to be the proclaimers of the light, we better be the children of the light first. And this is the first thing light does. The light stands for order. Just imagine the lights going off, there’ll be chaos, there’ll be confusion, there’ll be turmoil, there may be a stampede. You know, for a moment in the train if the light goes off, people are wondering about the pickpockets and the stealing that will go on over there. There is chaos, accidents, people running helter skelter. Light brings order, the first function of light is that it brings order.
Light symbolizes revelation :
Light also stands for revelation of truth. Where there is light, we see everyone and everything as they truly are, we see everybody. Very often when I am talking if the light goes off, I feel very comfortable because I know people cannot see me. I’m nervous, I’m frightened and I’m perspiring over here, people cannot see me but once the lights come on, I’m exposed, my knees knocking, may be butterflies in the stomach and in that manner when we have light we see everyone and everything as they truly are. Lack of light would result in not seeing and not knowing. Now the Word of God is very very clear. See what it says “But people often hate light and flee from it”. Why, because as long as they are in the darkness, their works of darkness are not revealed, they are not exposed, they do not come in front of the light. But once the light comes, their deeds are exposed, it is being like a person who has sore eyes and is looking into the bulb and his eyes burn and so he flees from that place.
So the first things that light does is that it brings order in our life. If we want order in our life, in our family, in our society, in our country and because of sin we are in a chaos and confusion, there is disorder, there is no feeling of trust. It is only the light of Jesus that will bring order into the world.
The second as I told you Light is revelation.
What is the third one ?
Light sheds light and it shows us the way :
In Mumbai we do not feel it so much because we’ve got street lights, we’ve got house lights, we’ve got society lights but you to a village, most of the villages today also have electricity, but the villagers in the olden days were so afraid that they would fall into a well or whether there was a snake over there or whether there is a wild animal or a wild boar or a thief in the hiding and we are wondering will I find my way, will I find my path ?. And so the 3rd function of light is that it sheds light and it shows us the way. That’s why you carry a torch with you, just to see how and where you are going, whether you’re walking in safety or not. For them who believe in the light, for them who have accepted this light of Jesus, the time of guessing is this the right way, is that the right way, the time of guessing and groping. You know when the lights go off in the middle of the night, we are all trying to find the switch or candle, you know how we’re groping. These days are over because the true light has come into the world. The path that once was in darkness is now bright and illumined because of the light they possess.
These are the 3 functions of light that I intended to bring to you though there are many others, it dispels darkness, it illumines, it brings order, it shows the path and it also gives us the revelation. And so in Matthew 5:14 Jesus says “You are the light of the world. Just as I am the light of the world, now you are the light of the world.”
The question to ask is “Am I really living up to that light?” The light of God has come into us, the light has been given to us through the preaching of the Word, the light has been given to us through the Sacraments, the light has been given to us through our prayer, every way light is coming into our life but our job now is to stand on the place where it can be seen by everybody. Because light was not meant to be kept under a basket, under a bushel, but it has to be spread around.
Matthew 5:13 says ‘You are the salt of the earth’. We look at it not in a very detailed way just now, as it will be covered in the next part. There are 3 or 4 functions of salt, which I want to highlight. The first is, you know when they catch fish and they don’t keep it preserved for a long time it starts to decay and then you get the stink. And so what they used to do in the days gone by, they used to put salt in between the fish so that the decay is slowed down. Salt slows down the decay. When we make our curry and rice, what do we do? We add a little salt for flavor. It’s a flavoring agent. Too much salt – not good. No salt – it becomes insipid.
The world is today insipid by virtue of its sinfulness. The 3rd quality of salt – no matter which salt we bring, rock salt, Tata salt, the salt never gets the credit. Oh you cooked so well, the fish tastes so nice or such nice curry. No acknowledgement. But just as light keeps on shining and does not draw attention or rather does not announce ‘I have come’, it just shines. So also salt does not make any announcement, its not even acknowledged, it just gives flavor. And that’s what we are called to do, that’s the theme, that’s living the life that Jesus lived. He was the light of the world and sure enough he was the salt of the earth and He brought meaning into the sin-darkened world. When you take these 2 definitions, there are 3 or 4 words that come to our notice. If we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, then we are supposed to have an impact on the world. Wherever we are, maybe in our office, maybe our kitchens, maybe at our society meetings, maybe when we are traveling, we are supposed to have an impact on the world. They must be able to say, “There is somebody who is different, there is somebody who is noble, and there is somebody who is different from others. You have an impact on somebody. And you know when somebody has an impact on you; you tend to follow that person. When you see a good product, you immediately go for that product. You are patronizing that product so the impact is important. The 2nd thing is influence. We are having an influence on the lives of the people of the world. Very often I have seen in my own life, while traveling by train, there is all type of nonsense going on – double meaning talk, coarse jokes, all this is happening and there you are sitting as the light of the world and you open the Bible and perhaps you are reading Matthew 5:13 and 14 “You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth”. And they look up at you and they see a difference over there. You have an influence on them. And immediately I’ve seen that all that nonsense stops because there is an influence. So if you are leading a life that is noble, a life that is exemplary, a life that is marked by personal holiness, friends the world will change because they will be influenced by that salt and light which is taking effect.
Jesus is there shining for us, He’s given us His Word that now that I am not in the world, you are the light of the world. The work that I came to do, you must continue. He’s there with us always but I have to do something. I have to do my part while He does His part. And I would like to tell you a small story - The story about a little boy who is standing outside his house with a mirror in his hand and reflecting the light in somebody’s house. A concerned gentleman comes by and asks him what mischief he is up to. And that boy says, “Sir, I am not playing mischief. You see, I’ve got a small brother who is handicapped and bedridden. And he can’t come out to enjoy the sunlight. All I am doing is, I’m trying to take a little of that light to the room where he is”.
My dear friends that boy had the essence that boy was doing what Jesus wants us to do. In this sin-darkened world, into those corners, into those abysses, into those places where there is not light, Jesus wants you to carry that light. That is the mission, that is the message of the Resurrection.
Now that he has risen you are now going out with that light into the dark nooks and corners. And so if that boy who was carrying that mirror had to put some tar on that do you think he would be able to reflect that sunlight into the room? No, because that opaque substance, that tar would absorb the light. And so the light would not have been reflected.
Something like the moon, the moon does not have its own light. What is the moon doing? It is taking the light of the sun and reflecting it on us. If you cover the moon with some substance or some black paper over there, we would get no light. And so the moral of what I am telling you is that our lives should be of such a quality, our lives should be of such a noble standard, there should be no blemish in us, there should be nothing that absorbs the light, but our lives should be of such a quality that they should reflect the light of Jesus. And you will see life generated.
I was reading about a man who is sharing one day in class about the light of the world and he says in my attic or my kitchen it is very very dark. But there were some potatoes there and they started sprouting. And how did that happen? He said the cook had hung a copper vessel, a shinning copper vessel. And with that light those potatoes started getting life over there.
We may not be evangelists, we may not be big preachers, we may not be big teachers but if only we be what Jesus wants us to be, we will be bear fruit, and we will be the Resurrection people. He wants us to be lights of the world. The tar that I’m talking about, the cover that I’m talking about, we can mar our testimony, we can mar that shining surface that it ought to be is resentment. Very very common thing. We resent, we have resentment against others. There is bitterness in our hearts. We are praying people. We believe in God. We come for the Eucharist regularly but in our hearts we are harboring bitterness and resentment and unforgiveness and hate feelings. This person or such a person will not be able to fulfill not be able to fulfill Matthew 5:13 or 14, because he or she will absorb that light and so our prayer should be Lord refine us, Lord clean us, Lord wash us with your Word so that our bodies will be true lights of the world.
Lets go to salt now. As long its in that salt shaker, its of no use. As long as it is for itself, its of no use, that salt has to come out and mingle with the food, not in one place but it has to be scattered all over. The message for you and for me friends is that we have to shake the salt and shine the light if we want to fulfill Matthew 5:13 and 14.
Coming back to light, Jesus telling the disciples, “You are the light of the world”. And the disciples and some of us might say “Lord, me, I can imagine some MBA or graduate or some dynamic person can be the light of the world. Just think of it like this, if this place is dark, pitch dark, how much light does it take to dispel that darkness? Just one candle. And so don’t worry how small a light you are. You have to just shine. The oceans are so big but that one lighthouse where that light that keeps on turning and turning is able to give safety to thousands which would have otherwise crashed into the rocks. Just be yourself. You are the light of the world.
My dear friends, Jesus is the light of the world. John 8:12. And He has given us this incredible vocation shall I say to become the lights of the world. Making us what He was, what He is, the light of the world. But as He does His part, we have to do our part as well. This light is not to be kept under a bushel but this light has to be kept on a lamp stand. This salt is not to be kept in a salt shaker, this salt has to be mixed with the food, so that there is that enlightenment, there is that light that will brighten up the darkness and there is that salt that will take out the insipidness and render this world a better place.
So in conclusion, since we will be doing it the next part we will learn some wonderful qualities of salt. But before that we want to further study the condition of the world. It is given in 2 Timothy 3. You can read the whole of that chapter, so that you can understand why Jesus wants us to be the salt of the earth. Saying, remember there will be difficult times in the last days, people will be selfish, and the world’s inequality and the world’s poverty is because they are selfish. People will be greedy and boastful. My way, not the Lord’s way but my way. Conceited, they will be insulting and disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and irreligious, they will be unkind and merciless, slanderers and violent, fierce and they will hate the good. They will be treacherous and reckless and swollen with pride. They will love pleasure rather than God. This is where we are erring. This is where we go into that wicked mould. We love pleasure rather than God. This line is most important to us who are devout and satan enters our life in a very subtle way.
Ask yourself ‘in what way am I preventing that light from reflecting? I have no business to keep that light to myself. And is this applicable to me? He says over here ‘they will hold on to the outward form of religion. Religion, prayer, scripture is supposed to purify us.
You know there is this person who was taking care of a lake on a mountaintop. And his work was to clear all the leaves and the debris and the branches that fell into the water. And because he was faithfully doing his work the water came down clean and uninterrupted, running the mills and also the birds used to come and beautify it. Along with the tourists there was a lot of income. But then somebody said, ‘Why should we pay that man, we do not even see any work that he is doing.’ And they sacked him. Nothing changed for a while. But then when the leaves started falling more and more and the branches started falling, the water became less bright now. The water came much slower, the windmills were not working well, the birds went away because disease had spread below in that town which was supplied by the lake water. Along with all the birds and the natural beauty also fled the tourists. And then that committee came back to their senses and they employed that servant back to take care of the lake.
If anybody thinks that she or he can do without the salt and light effect, is making a mistake. It is your work, it is my work to become the salt and light so that all the debris, all the branches, all that is not of the kingdom is taken out of the lives so that the world’s beauty, the light will be restored and taste will be restored in our lives as well.
And so I just want you to sign along with me as I conclude this talk asking for the grace to live this message, Matthew 5:13 and 14 “You are the light of the world and you are the salt of the earth.” In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen.