Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

The readings today are saying, You Matter! We Matter!  We are the salt and light of the world.  Now, although we are usually asked to cut back on salt, our bodies actually need a bit of salt for our health.  There is even a special area on our tongues that enable us to taste salt fully.  We are made that way.  If we are salt, then just as salt can help transmit nerve impulses throughout our bodies and help with the contraction and relaxation of muscles in our heart, then yes, we do contribute to the health of the church in one way or another.  We add flavor; we preserve; we enhance.   When we live as children of God, we preserve goodness in the world; our very presence adds flavor to a world that can be a little tasteless sometimes; and when we don’t hide, we light the path of others, and are beacons of hope in the world. 

For those who work in the church or serve in some type of ministry, it is not always easy to see oneself as a preserving agent or enhancing agent, and it is not always easy for others to see us as fellow beacons of light and preservers of love for the greater glory of God.  Sometimes ministry loses its vigor; loses its flavor, and truth be told, it’s sometimes difficult to find enjoyment in the work of God, but Elijah and the widow in the first reading shows us that when we hear God’s voice, and do God’s will, all our needs will be met; our purpose is revealed.  If we, like Elijah and the widow, can trust that our needs will be met, then we will never lose our flavor; we will never lose our zeal to preserve goodness and love.  

So, let us come out from under the bushel, courageously walk out from the dark, sit up, stand up, let our good deeds be known — this world loses its flavor without us, children of God; it is dark without our light — our God given light.  “You are the light of the world”, “you are the salt of the world”, “you are a city set on a mountain”, these should be our daily affirmations.  Let us keep our heads up, straighten our shoulders, and make our voices heard.  Let our light be seen by everyone for the greater glory of God.