Gospel Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – February 5th

By Fr Brian Maher OMI

Sunday February 5th 2023, Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

The sudden shift from the gentle “Blessed are’s…” of last week’s Gospel, to talk this week about ‘salt and lighted lamps’ seems, at first glance, a bit jarring and awkward. However, when we realise that what Matthew is doing is giving us a collected summary of Jesus message and vision, rather than recounting a single preached sermon, the link becomes a bit easier to understand.

Wouldn’t it be tedious if we had to wade through every single word spoken by Jesus, every miracle and interaction, in order to sift out the overall vision he had of the Kingdom of God? All of us, when we talk, say some things more seriously than others and sometimes we can be distracted and wander away from the point altogether. Why would we imagine that Jesus would not do the same?

The Gospels were written forty and more years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. During those years the followers of Jesus – those lucky women and men who walked the roads with him and were eyewitnesses to all he did – shared their memories, sifted through his teachings, reflected together on what his words meant, and gradually came to understand his mission and his vision.

The writers of the Gospels had the advantage of all this wisdom and so they were able to give us a clear and accurate account of the life of Jesus, leaving out stories and details which might distract us from the true meaning of his message.

It is possible but unlikely, I think, that Jesus ever spoke the ‘Sermon of the Mount’ in one place and on one occasion. It is much more likely that Matthew is gathering together for us a collection of things Jesus said at different times and offering them to us in a clear and simply understood manner. We, therefore, are fortunate enough to have the entire vison of Jesus for the Kingdom of God presented to us in eight, one sentence, Beatitudes (blessed are’s…”) without distraction or unnecessary details. This, for me, is the beauty of the Gospels and the work of the Holy Spirit.

It is so easy to imagine and hear Jesus speak these Beatitudes. The come across in a gentle and inclusive way. In them there is no condemnation or judgement, no confrontation or anger. They present a vision of the Kingdom of God, and the people invited to share in it: “the poor, the gentle, the mourners, the fighters for justice, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted”.

There is, however, a danger contained in every ‘vision’ statement and that danger is that it comes across as a ‘dream’ or an ideology, something way off in the future, something we aspire to but can never reach.

Matthew is aware, as anyone who listened to Jesus was aware, that the ‘Kingdom’ Jesus talked about was not some ‘pie in the sky’, something nice but unreal. For Jesus the Kingdom of God was not only possible, but it was near, being made visible by Jesus himself. The call of Jesus to “follow me” was always an urgent and challenging one. Jesus, the Gospels tell us, “spoke with authority, and not like the Scribes and Pharisees.” There was a vibrancy and excitement in what he said that could not be mistaken.

It is important for Matthew that the vision of Jesus is not mistaken by his readers as a ‘philosophy’ or a ‘theory’.

…. And so, at last, we come to today’s Gospel. In order to stress that the Kingdom Jesus spoke of was near and exciting and real and vibrant, Mathew adds, immediately after the Beatitudes, two other stories Jesus told, probably at different times: one about salt and one about lighting a lamp. They are wonderfully simple stories and their meaning is also wonderfully clear. In them we glimpse Jesus’ mastery of storytelling.

Salt has two uses – to keep things fresh and to add flavour to food. Both are important. In the time of Jesus, before refrigeration and deep freezing, rubbing salt into meats and fish or submersing them in salt water preserved them and kept them fresh. The point is clear. The vision of Jesus is not to be left for some time in the future. It is to be kept fresh and living. Likewise, unseasoned food is bland and boring. It is uninviting and best forgotten. The Kingdom of God is not either bland or boring. It is exciting, attractive, and alive.

The idea of lighting a lamp and then hiding it away somewhere is so utterly laughable as to be ridiculous. Using this image to speak about the Kingdom of God makes Jesus’ point in the strongest possible way. The Kingdom of God, outlined in the “Sermon on the Mount”, is to be shared with others. Keeping this Kingdom just for ourselves, or worse, keeping it hidden away and unshared with anyone is, quite simply, ridiculous, laughable. To attempt to do so is a direct and total contradiction of what Jesus intended and living in this way is not living in the Kingdom of God.

Matthew’s genius here, and the work of the Holy Spirit, is in remembering Jesus’ stories about the salt and the lighted lamp and then combining them with the ‘Sermon on the Mount’. In this way we are left in no doubt that the vision of Jesus is not something comfortable that we can discuss forever, without ever trying to reach.

I am reminded of what Pope Francis said in his very first to the Church, “The Joy of the Gospel.” His words, I think, echo today’s Gospel, and capture the freshness, life, excitement, and urgency of the “Sermon on the Mount.”

“How I long to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm for a new chapter of evangelization full of fervor, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love, and attraction.”

(EG 261)

“It is not by proselytizing that the Church grows, but ‘by attraction’.” 

 (EG 14)

“A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain, and in love, will convince nobody.” 

(EG 266)

In these words Pope Francis is talking to us Christians. In the Sermon on the Mount and in today’s Gospel, Jesus is also talking to us.

It is not enough for us to live for ourselves, to pray, go to Mass and wait to go to Heaven. To do that is to allow the salt of Jesus’ message to lose its flavour, to make the Kingdom of God uninviting and irrelevant. To do that is to keep the light and attraction of Jesus’ vision for our world hidden away and unseen.

The Kingdom of God has the freshness and excitement of salt and the attraction and desirability of properly seasoned food.

The Kingdom of God is a light for our world, here and now. We must actively and positively make it visible and attractive in our lives.

We are the Kingdom of God in our world – we are “the poor, the gentle, the mourners, the fighters for justice, the merciful, the peacemakers and the persecuted” … and our light must shine for all to see.

Many thanks,   

Brian.

If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection, please feel welcome to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie

Your light must shine in the sight of men