Isaiah 58:7-10 / 1 Cor 2:1-5 / Matthew 5:13-16
A time of crisis means that it is a time of intense difficulty or danger.
Certainly that means that a time of crisis is definitely not a comfortable or pleasant time.
So it can be a political crisis, an economic crisis, a financial crisis, a food crisis.
At present, with those health precautions to curb the growing virus Infection, it seems like it could be the health crisis.
The alert has been raised to DORSCON Orange, which is only one level from Red. So it may seem that a health crisis is looming.
And that has already created fears, and fear is irrational. Irrational enough to stock up food excessively, irrational enough to make snide remarks about a certain nationality, irrational enough to stare and even snipe at those who cough or sneeze.
So a crisis brings out the fear. And a crisis also shows what courage is, as well as who has courage.
And courage is like the salt and light that Jesus talked about in the gospel.
Courage is like salt that gives taste to food that is bland. Courage is like a lamp that is put on the lamp stand when it is dark.
As much as Jesus talked about salt and light, yet we also know that these two things do not exist for themselves.
Salt gives taste but we don’t eat salt as it is. Light does not shine in, light shines out.
So, salt and light are in many ways similar to faith and love.
Faith does not exist for itself. Faith helps us to realize the presence of love and the presence of God in all situations (where there is love, there is God).
Jesus Himself was salt and light when others forgot about the presence of God in several instances in the gospels.
Remember that instance, when He was asked if it was necessary to pay taxes?
He asked for a coin, he asked them whose image was on the coin, and then He said: Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.
The people were talking about taxes, a tasteless thing.
Jesus put in some salt and made them realize the presence of God, and more importantly that all things belong to God. So what belongs to Caesar, actually belongs to God.
In another instance, when Jesus was asked where His authority came from, He in turn asked them where the authority of John the Baptist came from. From man or from God?
Well, His question was the answer for them, and they had no reply to that.
Because the moment God comes into the picture, their question becomes redundant and pointless.
So Jesus Himself showed us what salt and light are all about.
Any situation without the involvement of God is a tasteless situation.
Faith is like salt that brings in the presence of God and it enlightens the situation with the love of God.
And in times like these, faith and love can be expressed in one phrase, and that is, “courage to be compassionate”.
Someone wrote the following post about these present times and it calls for our attention and reflection.
I was at the coffee shop today, taking my lunch. Then I saw an ambulance driver Uncle walking in with his mask and uniform. I tell you, he looked very tired. He walked over to the stall to buy food and they turned him away. He walked back to his ambulance. I caught up with him. l admit, I kept my distance because I’m also scared. I have kids. I asked him what he wanted and I would buy for him. He said he just wanted chicken rice. For 4 days, he worked 12 hours straight, and has been eating biscuits here and there to keep himself full while driving around. He just wanted the packet of chicken rice today. I went and bought for him and as I was walking towards him, he said to me, “It’s okay. Don’t come any closer. You leave the packet over there. When you go back to your car, I’ll pick it up.”
I was so heartbroken. He also shared with me that he has been so worried that he has not gone home for 4 days to see his family. After he finishes his shift, he showers at the hospital and sleeps in his ambulance. These men and women at the front line really deserve our respect. In times like these we need to be supporting them instead of turning them away. Let us salute these brave heroes.
It is in times like these that our faith is like the salt that brings in the presence of God and our love is like the light that shows the compassion of God.
Let us listen again to what the Lord says in the first reading:
Share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, clothe the man you see to be naked
and do not turn from your own kin.
Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over.
Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you.
Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here.’
Yes the Lord is with us, He is on our side. But we must be courageous in these times and be compassionate to those who fear.
May these times bring out our faith and love so that we can be like the salt and the light of the Good News of salvation.