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Father said that as we “are the light of the world”, we should be like the Easter candle: We get our light from Christ, the Easter candle, and light our own by following Him.
Even though salt has it’s own distinctive taste, the real benefit of adding salt to any meal is to enhance and draw out the flavors present in the dish. This is why it is better to cook the salt into the food rather than coat the food with it as an afterthought. As Christians we are called to go out into the world and transform it and draw out and build up that which is good in humanity, rather than to attempt to cover up that which is unsatisfactory or evil.
Fr. G. B., Munich, St. Sylvester
What do salt and light have in common?
Firstly, they are not noticed directly but they show something different from themselves. If you taste the salt itself in your soup, the cook didn’t do his job well.
You generally don’t perceive the light itself. Instead, when you enter this church, you may notice the paintings, the sculptures, some need for renovation, but not the light itself. This you will notice only when it suddenly goes off, when you sit in the dark.
Think of Christianity. How big Christian impact on society has been you will only notice when all of a sudden Christianity is gone.
And it needn’t be centered all the day, you shouldn’t talk of religion in every sentence, but let your faith be like the salt. It shouldn’t be tasted in itself but it should bring the essential things to unfold. you don’t want to be the bad cook, but let the salt help the flavors to unfold, let it go through the life.
Secondly, you cannot contain the salt in one corner, you cannot keep the light in one corner. Have you tried to put the salt just in the right half of the pot of soup? It will diffuse. You may open only the right windows of this church, but it will enlighten the whole room.
So, those people proclaiming religion should be a private matter and should have no place in the public, they know that this is not possible. Actually, they want to destroy the church. They just don’t dare to say this openly. Church can never remain confined to some place. It will spread, it will diffuse, it will radiate, like the salt, like the light.
God wants to be the light in everybody’s life.
Fr. G. B. has been “James Collins Visiting Professor in Philosophy” at Saint Louis University in the Fall term of 2013.
Confitemini Domino,
Wonderful homily, very thought provoking, beautiful imagery. Thank you for sharing here.
Thank you Angie Mcs, I am grateful Fr. G. B. is back to Germany.
Can’t get to Mass today. Too much snow. Hiways have not been plowed yet. so its off to a corner to say my Little Office and a few Rosaries.
Excellent homily today — will Islam overtake Christianity in numbers and if so, why? What do we lack? Where is the salt and light? We went to the early Mass and it was sparsely attended today with few people under the age of 70. The homily didn’t need much in the way of examples. The music director picked lots of jaunty songs about being the light of the world. YOU WISH. But I am being too gloomy, it was not a depressing homily but a “get out there!!!!” homily.
We’ve had lots of snow here lately, and the roads in our neighborhood are not treated or plowed well. He started with a joke about salt and getting in a rut — literally. Sounds cheesy but it worked really well.
EF Mass, parable of the wheat and the weeds. This parable describes how God looks at sin and evil in the world, as opposed to how Man looks at it. We are like the servants who want to pull the weeds out right now, which causes more harm than good because they cannot tell wheat from weed. In the same way some things that look like evil can be good, and things that appear good can be evil. We often want to fix things ourselves, we make judgments, rather than having patience and letting God take care of things. The harvest symbolizes the end times and the final judgement when the truly evil will be rooted out and burnt and the good will be taken up. We have to be patient to let God make the judgments in his own time.
If you don’t understand what Jesus meant then fry and egg, don’t add salt, and see how it tastes…
Since there was no deacon at this Mass, the pastor proclaimed the Gospel and I thought he might stay in the ambo for the homily, but unfortunately continued his trend of coming out of the sanctuary and going back and forth along the altar rail in front of the first row for the homily. Other than that, I enjoyed the delivery and message: salt and light and how both are necessary for life but how too much can be just as dangerous as too little.
Keeping an oil lamp under a basket is not just silly; it’s a fire hazard.
I couldn’t make it to Mass today either – I came down with the flu on Wednesday – so it’s nice to hear about the sermons elsewhere. :-)
Father related that, at a prior parish, when he conducted pre-confirmation interviews with children he would always ask them if they knew anyone who was “holy”. He said the most frequent answer by a long shot was “Grandma”. When asked why, they said “She’s always praying,” “She gives a lot to charity”, “She goes to church every week”, etc. The grandmas, in other words, were doing a good job of being “salt” and “light.” Now, it’s true that a grandmother may have fewer worldly distractions but, I had to wonder, don’t the kids ever see their parents praying, doing charitable deeds . . . going to Church on Sunday? I resolved to work on doing a better job of being “salt” and “light.”
-Iacobus M http://vitafamiliariscatholica.blogspot.com/
“Failing to admonish others is to despise them, it’s not charity.” Rev. Benjamin Coggeshall (Deacon), The latest in a series of excellent homilies at the EF Institute of Christ the King, Ireland.
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. The pharisee was no doubt a better man than the publican – certainly in the eyes of his neighbors. The publican was no doubt good to his friends. But the pharisee is blind to his sins while the publican is blind to his virtues and only the publican goes home justified. The bottom line – saving fellowship with God presupposes that we acknowledge and repent of our sins because our sins separate us from the God who loves us. All the saints witness to this truth.
http://hancaquam.blogspot.com/2014/02/stay-salty-and-bright.html
“Like that city, our works for the greater glory of God must be monumental, stone-solid, unavoidable to even the most disinterested tourist. Like that city, our witness to the Father’s mercy must be visible to the countryside from miles away; a landmark for both pilgrims and sinners alike. If not, then we are ‘no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.’ Do your words and deeds help to build God’s unhideable city on the hill?”
Fr. Philip Neri, OP
NO: Jesus didn’t just give people stuff (as we do if, say, we give a beggar a buck and promptly trot 0ff); he shared of Himself. He asks us to share Him with others.
TLM, later: (1) Evil exists; (2) Be slow to judge; (3) Be vigilant against enemies (unlike the householder’s servants); (4) Like the harvest in the parable, judgment will come.
Please say a prayer for the member of the outstanding men’s schola at the Church of St. John the Beloved in McLean, Virginia, who took sick during Mass and had to be taken away in an ambulance.
Well, to tell you the truth, I didn’t hear the homily. I was lost in thought. How does salt lose its flavor?
What do you call salt which has lost its saltiness?
What do you call a Christian who cannot be recognised by his love?
We are all going to die, therefore get to weeding out the sin from your life before the harvest….also the 1951 University of San Francisco (Catholic) football team (9-0) was invited to the Orange Bowl on the condition that they left their two black players at home. They declined the invite.
Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee at the Byzantine parish I was at. Father’s homily stressed the importance of praying from the heart. (Out of the depths, I cry to you O Lord!) . The Pharisee’s prayer was full of hot air because it was about himself. The publican (tax collector) prayer is one of the basis for the Jesus’ prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner). He left us with the question, how well do we pray? do we pray from the heart?
What we do inside the church affects what happens outside of it. God takes liturgical abuse seriously. He struck down Aaron’s brother dead for using the wrong kind of incense. Say the black, do the red. Liturgical abuse has caused the culture of death and the Church is going through a liturgical crisis. We must pray for the Pope, bishops and priests.
Discussion of marriage, comparing it to salt, and running down the requirements for a Catholic marriage (Catechesis! Be still my heart!) Big deal: 1st Sunday for our new pipe organ. Relevance to the sermon? It’s a big boomy church, and apparently having the organ case in the choir loft broke up the echo enough that we choristers could actually understand the homily, something that has been difficult.
@Confitemini Domino
Great sermon. Thanks for sharing.
We had no sermon only a film with the Bishop’s annual appeal.
Not an award winning film. No popcorn.
Rachel K
What do you call salt which has lost its saltiness?
What do you call a Christian who cannot be recognised by his love?
Is this a trick question?
Do you have a humorous reply?
A?
Nitty Gritty?
Unsalted nut?
Dear @Confitemini Domino, that was the “Think and Pray”-program, right? They do some good sermons there. Though I say it as shouldn’t, I was some one time there or so… there are so many good Masses to go to in Munich.
That said, if you thought that writing “G.B.” conceals the identity… think again :-)
My celebrant made it a point that we it would be foolishness to say “I am a black sheep, a collection of litter, etc.” – the Lord says that we are – not: have to become – the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
He went on how He makes us share, in Him, what He himself is. Thus, He is the Son of God: in Him, we are children of God. He is the light of the world; in Him, we are the light of the world. So also with some other titles.
Well, that’s what I remember… now for a second.
Don’t follow majority, follow what is right.
We had a sweet old Priest with a walker.
He told us that WE are the light even in the snow and we will shine with the Love of Christ through the winter of our lives.
I thank The Lord for this man. We were blessed to have him.
Like JonPatrick above, we also made the monthly trek to attend an EF Mass; interestingly, the sermon was just about the same, based on the same Gospel.
The BEST part was the large amount of 20 & 30 something folks in attendance.
On their own, not dragged there by parents. Well dressed all, & most of the ladies veiled.
I thought it was 1960 or something!
There is hope…
Father explained that being salt and light means doing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. He read the lists of both of them and emphasized multiple times the necessity to do them. He said we should try to do at least one of each every day.
Compared the 8/9 Beatitudes and the Light of the World with the 8/9 Candles of the Menorah. The Menorah in the Temple was used like the Sanctuary Lamps today: lights to show God’s presence. The Menorah in the Hanukkah story stayed lit after most of the oil was desecrated in the time of Antiochus, and remained lit for 8 days when it ran out (God proved to the Maccabees and the Judeans that he was still there, even inspite of the horrible things they had gone through). The Hanukkah Menorah was used to remember this (and the family of 8 and Eleazar the Martyrs), and was supposed to be put in the windows, so that the people outside of the Jewish homes (whether they be Greeks, Romans, or Alexandrian/Egyptians) would see it and think of the strength of the Jewish God and their faith. When Jesus is teaching the Sermon on the Mount, he first lists 8 Beatitudes (and a restatement of the last one), and then says that “You are the light of the world.” We must be Menorahs, by living out the beatitudes, and pointing to God’s presence, to point to The Light of the World.
I couldn’t go. The weather was uncertain and my father (dementia) was too confused.
Jack in NH, you weren’t at the Basilica in Lewiston ME by chance?
Also do you ever get over to the St. Benedict Center in Richmond NH about 15 miles south of Keene? Daily and Sunday Masses in the EF only, Fr. Phillipson is a wonderful priest not afraid to speak the truth.
How salt loses its savour: in times past it was unusual to have pure salt, white crystals (except perhaps here in Cheshire). It was more usual to have something like salty earth. You would put it in a small linen bag and put that in the soup; the salt would dissolve and flavour the food. When there was no salt left, the earth remaining in the bag would, of course, be thrown out and “trodden underfoot”.
Yesterday our parish was visited by our Bishop. During the week he had (no doubt) checked the admin and so on; he certainly visited the schools and took communion to the sick; and on Sunday he preached very well at all the Masses, with humour, fervour and clarity: our spiritual journey and the Sacrament of Confession. God bless him.
This same bishop has already consecrated the Diocesis to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Need we say more?
The celebrant was a very good priest from the new Society of St Augustine. I don’t remember any particular about the homily.
At the end of the mass the scattering song (i.e., the opposite of the gathering song) was Go Make A Difference–it caused me to wonder whether it would make a difference for anyone who might be going to make a difference.
After explaining the relationship of salt and light Father gave two examples of extraordinary instances of living the gospel and how living the gospel will pass on the faith. Then he said we can’t wait for these few times in our lives to decide to act good. We are called to live these every day in small ways. In budgeting, the saying goes, look after the cents and the dollars will take care of themselves. How much more appropriate is this for living the faith? Take care of doing small things right each day and when the time comes for doing extraordinary acts of charity, they will take care of themselves. The home should be the place to learn and practice these small ordinary everyday acts of charity.
Too much salt can destroy food. Too bright a light can blind. And this:
The Christians in the world
“Christians are indistinguishable from other men either by nationality, language or customs. They do not inhabit separate cities of their own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. Their teaching is not based upon reveries inspired by the curiosity of men. Unlike some other people, they champion no purely human doctrine. With regard to dress, food and manner of life in general, they follow the customs of whatever city they happen to be living in, whether it is Greek or foreign.
And yet there is something extraordinary about their lives. They live in their own countries as though they were only passing through. They play their full role as citizens, but labor under all the disabilities of aliens. Any country can be their homeland, but for them their homeland, wherever it may be, is a foreign country. Like others, they marry and have children, but they do not expose them. They share their meals, but not their wives.
They live in the flesh, but they are not governed by the desires of the flesh. They pass their days upon earth, but they are citizens of heaven. Obedient to the laws, they yet live on a level that transcends the law. Christians love all men, but all men persecute them. Condemned because they are not understood, they are put to death, but raised to life again. They live in poverty, but enrich many; they are totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything. They suffer dishonor, but that is their glory. They are defamed, but vindicated. A blessing is their answer to abuse, deference their response to insult. For the good they do they receive the punishment of malefactors, but even then they, rejoice, as though receiving the gift of life. They are attacked by the Jews as aliens, they are persecuted by the Greeks, yet no one can explain the reason for this hatred.
To speak in general terms, we may say that the Christian is to the world what the soul is to the body. As the soul is present in every part of the body, while remaining distinct from it, so Christians are found in all the cities of the world, but cannot be identified with the world. As the visible body contains the invisible soul, so Christians are seen living in the world, but their religious life remains unseen. The body hates the soul and wars against it, not because of any injury the soul has done it, but because of the restriction the soul places on its pleasures. Similarly, the world hates the Christians, not because they have done it any wrong, but because they are opposed to its enjoyments.
Christians love those who hate them just as the soul loves the body and all its members despite the body’s hatred. It is by the soul, enclosed within the body, that the body is held together, and similarly, it is by the Christians, detained in the world as in a prison, that the world is held together. The soul, though immortal, has a mortal dwelling place; and Christians also live for a time amidst perishable things, while awaiting the freedom from change and decay that will be theirs in heaven. As the soul benefits from the deprivation of food and drink, so Christians flourish under persecution. Such is the Christian’s lofty and divinely appointed function, from which he is not permitted to excuse himself.”
From a letter to Diognetus (Nn. 5-6; Funk, 397-401)
Our 85 year-old Jesuit EF priest (God bless him!) commented on the Gospel of the wheat and the weeds. The most outstanding point he made was that like in the Gospel where the bad seeds are sown while they were asleep, that the people of the Church have been asleep while bad seed has been sown for the last 50 years or so. WE open our eyes and wake up!
At our OF Mass Sunday the pastor spoke of the various ways that salt was previously used in older form ceremonies. He especially seemed to enjoy salting the tongues of babies! He also spoke of the cultural tendency to privatize religion. He noted that the Bill of Rights however does not speak of freedom from religion. So we should take our religion, i.e. our Catholic convictions, into the public square.
@Bea Weeell, we had no popcorn either… :D (but sometimes, another Jesuit priest who is much involved with filmmaking uses examples from cinema here).
@Imrahil *laugh* yes, to anybody familiar with the “Think and Pray”-program, this would be obvious… BUT: if I had felt a need for concealing the identity of “G. B.”, I wouldn’t have posted the sermon at all – you want to hear good points, don’t you? (by the way, the “James Collins Visiting Professor in Philosophy” would have been another little hint for anybody wishing to google him…)