Proclaim the Gospel with conviction and gentleness to get the right flavour
This is an excerpt from a homily Archbishop J. Michael Miller gave during the Mass for university students Feb. 4 at Holy Rosary Cathedral.
At this Eucharist we gather to praise the Lord together and to recognize our common vocation as those involved in higher education. As believers, we are called to let the radiant light of the truth and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ shine on our learning, research, and work.
Although I have spent many years on campuses as a student, faculty member and administrator, you still know better than I do the demanding but exciting challenges that confront those on campus who take their faith seriously and who want it to be relevant to what they are studying, how they are living and discerning the vocation that they will embrace on their journey through life.
The recent Sunday Gospel passage from the Sermon on the Mount comes immediately after Jesus’ proclamation of the Beatitudes. He concludes by saying to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world.”
Jesus is inviting his followers to a deeper discipleship by using two simple metaphors: one involving salt and the other, light. With these richly evocative images he wishes to tell us something about our mission and our witness.
In ancient times, just as today, one main reason for using salt was to season food, to enhance its taste and flavour. Furthermore, it served as an important preservative. Jesus, then, was expressing his desire that his disciples do at least two things: give zest to the world through his teaching, and preserve without contamination the truth he proclaimed. In the words of Pope Francis, “Both salt and light are for others, not for oneself: salt does not give flavor to itself; light does not illuminate itself.”
Salt enhances flavour. When it is used well, we don’t even taste it. There is a lesson here for how we are to proclaim the Gospel to our friends and colleagues. When we do so “with salt,” we do so with both conviction and with gentleness, taking into account who our listener, our partner in dialogue is, remembering, again as Francis says, that “all those who receive it do so with their distinctive features, like different foods [being salted].”
The Lord also warns his disciples that, like salt, they can lose their ability to flavour; they can lose their ability to inspire the world with the liberating message of the Gospel by their laziness or unwillingness to live as true disciples.
More than just adding flavour, salt has been used for millennia as a preservative, to prevent spoiling. Pope John Paul II said the task of today’s disciples “is to preserve and keep alive the awareness of the presence of our Saviour Jesus Christ.” As the salt of the earth, we are called to preserve the faith which we have received and to pass it on intact to others.
Light is a symbol of the triumph of faith over the darkness of unbelief. Think of the Easter Vigil. Jesus calls his followers to be the light of the world. What a privilege! He who proclaimed himself light of the world has the confidence to hand over his light to those who follow him, to you: “You are the light of the world.” And, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life”.
But being the “light of the world” is actually more of a challenge than a consolation. It calls us to go forth, not to hide in the comfort zone of our own circle of friends and colleagues. As Christians, we should be luminous, bringing light and giving off light! And this light is not our own, but a gift from God received in Baptism.
What is the first light that others can see at work in us? The Prophet Isaiah reminds us that it is not merely external worship but interior sincerity. Isaiah tells us what the Lord demands of us: that we loose the bonds of injustice, undo the yoke, let the oppressed go free, share our bread with the hungry, bring the homeless into our dwellings, cover the naked and pay attention to the needs of their families. If we do these things, the Prophet says, “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn … then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom will be like the noonday.” This is what it means to be the light of the world!
