Flavor the world with holiness

FR. TOM'S HOMILY FOR THE 5th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, February 9, 2020:

Three people were viewing the Grand Canyon one day. One was an artist, one a priest and the third was a cowboy. As they stood on the edge, each one responded to the wonder before them. The artist said, “What a beautiful scene to paint!” The priest cried, “What a wonderful example of God’s handiwork!” And the cowboy sighed and said, “Heck of a place to lose a cow.”

My friends, perspective matters. In our Gospel today, Jesus proclaimed, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world… Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” We know this passage well, but I think that we most often focus on our failure in its regard. In other words, we usually hear, “You are supposed to be the salt of the earth and light of the world; so get to it!!” But, as I reflected on this Gospel this week in my own prayer, what kept coming to me were images of different people. These weren’t people who are failing at their mission as salt and light in our world, but rather people shining brightly and bringing the full flavor of the Gospel to bear.

For example, I kept thinking about my grandfather and in particular the night that he returned to Heaven. When he passed, of course, there was sadness, but it wasn’t the same kind of sadness that we often experience with a loss. And that was because we knew where he was going. My grandfather lived his life as a deeply prayerful Catholic man, devoted to God; devoted to the Church; devoted to his wife and children; devoted to service. He was a man that everyone knew and loved. He always had a smile on his face, a joke to tell (that he never told correctly), a joyful song to sing (whether or not he could carry a note), and a kind word to share. For me, he was a model of how a good, holy, Christian man lives his life. And as I held his hand surrounded by family on the night he returned to Heaven, there was in that room even a sense of joy because we knew he was receiving the reward that God had prepared for him. For me, he was the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

And you know, as I speak of him, I’m sure you’re thinking of someone in your family or in your life who was or is salt and light to those around them. We all know people like my grandfather and their lives inspire us. We can sometimes be tempted to think that holiness is something abstract or an ideal. But, I know that holiness is real and tangible. We can be tempted to think that holiness is something very rare and only for the privileged few – like like St. Francis, St. Mother Teresa or St. John Paul the 2nd. But, I think that holiness is actually as common as salt. When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” He didn’t say, “you will be,” He said you are! He was reminding us, His followers, of our call to live and spread His Gospel. He was telling us what we have been made through His grace. I think Jesus paying His followers a compliment – then and now. Jesus was telling them that He already knew how good they are; how holy they are; and He is saying the same to you and to me.

Any homilist today has a choice between a homily that is a pat on the back or a slap on the cheek. I think today is a good day for a pat on the back. All of us here are the salt of the earth and the light of the world already. If we look around, we just might realize that we meet holiness in and through each other every day. We can see it in the devotion of those who come to daily Mass; in those devoted to the Blessed Mother and the prayer of the Rosary; in those who have reared their families and taught them to share a devotion to God and His church – like the beautiful family we have here today bringing their child for baptism. We can see it in the beautiful young people joyfully coming to church with a smile on their face. We see this holiness in those who care for the needy of our community, whose ministry brings them to prisons and nursing homes and homeless shelters; we see it in our bereavement ministers who accompany grieving families through the loss of a loved one; we see this holiness in the sick and the dying facing the greatest challenge of their lives with tremendous faith. Holiness is all around us. We are salt and light.

This holiness is prayer-powered and grace-filled! This much we all know, but we also need remember that this holiness reveals itself to us in human form. It is the sanctity that nods to us on the street; that offers us a bowl of hot soup on a cold day or helps to shovel us out from a snow storm. It is in the face of the person who tells us not to worry or that they understand what we’re going through or that they will offer a prayer for us and our needs. If our eyes our open, we can recognize the holiness that surrounds us at nearly every moment not floating high in the heavens out of reach, but right in front of us in the places that we live.

If there is a challenge to be found for us today as we hear these words about salt and light it is this – let us all pledge to expand the area of goodness and holiness in our lives. If we are reaching out this far in goodness, let us agree to reach out that much farther. Let us acknowledge today in this holy place for this Holy Mass that we are holy; let us remember all of the good and important ways that God’s holiness already shines on our faces and in our lives through our idealism, our commitment to faith and family and Church, through our devotion to prayer, our acceptance of the values of the Gospel, our prayerful celebration of the Holy Mass, our continual outreach to the homeless, the hungry, the grieving, the sick and imprisoned. Be the change you want to see in the world; be the holiness the world needs. Shine your light.

Pope Francis said, “It’s curious, both salt and light are for others, not for oneself: salt does not give flavor to itself; light does not illuminate itself. The Christian is salt given to others by God. Our attitude must be to give of ourselves, to give flavor to the lives of others, to give flavor to many things with the message of the Gospel, to light the world with the light of Christ.”

I think that Jesus wants us to know today that holiness is not only our destination it is also our present reality – always in need of purification and perfection, of course; but we are already the salt of the earth and the light of the world and our good deeds give glory and praise to our Heavenly Father.

Let us leave this place and light the world with God’s love and spread the flavor of the Gospel wherever we go.

May the Lord give you peace.

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