Sunday 5th February 2023 - Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 58:7-10/ Psalm 111(112)/1 Corinthians 2:1-5/ Matthew 5:13-16

Last Sunday we heard the familiar beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus set out a list of beatitudes, or blessings, which exalted those who society and even the groups themselves might find surprising. Today the sermon continues with a call for us to be lamps shining on a lampstand and not become tasteless salt trampled into the ground. As Jesus said, ‘No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub’. At our baptism we were lit with the light of faith, the light of Christ. That light was given by the Holy Spirit and God’s intention is that we keep it burning brightly throughout our lives bringing it through death into the light of heaven. This wonderful gift of the light of faith is not to be hidden under a tub or snuffed out. It should shine brightly out into the world lighting a path for others to follow.

Jesus continued, saying that our light must shine for people to see and seeing our good works they may praise God the Father in heaven. It sounds boastful to light up our good works for others to see. St Paul could often sound boastful in his writings to the early church, but the apparent boastfulness is not to draw attention to ourselves but to God. It is through the light we shine out that praise can be given to God.

Jesus could often be found among the poor and people considered to be sinners and outcasts. This is where we, his church on earth, should also be found. The first reading from Isaiah, written many years before Jesus appeared, calls for the same thing. Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, do not turn away from family and community. Do away with the clenched fist and wicked word and then our light will shine out to the world. It is not our light but the light of Christ, the risen crucified God, that will shine out from us if we follow the wisdom given by Jesus in his sermon on the mount. It is an instruction book on how to live a Christian life, that if all of us followed would do away with wars, conflict, and injustice everywhere. This might sound impossible, but nothing is impossible to God, and we should never give up the hope that we can bring God’s light into our darkened world.

The sermon on the mount calls us to make the light of God’s word real and present in the world. It shines a light on the injustice that leads to poverty for so many people. Social justice is an integral part of our faith and we must care for ‘the other’ whoever that might be. As Paul is suggesting in the second reading our faith is not defined by how academic we are. We might have an in depth knowledge of philosophy or be able to speak with eloquence but this will be an arid faith without the works of charity that Jesus is calling us to. Paul points out that it is not through human power that we spread God’s word but by the power of the Spirit working through us. There is a great difference between knowledge of our faith and actually living our faith. Mere knowledge will achieve little but putting our faith into action will transform the world and ourselves.

We have received the Light of Christ making us the lampstands that God has put his light on. Our calling as Christians is to bring a new enlightened vision to a world darkened by sin and unbelief giving meaning and enrichment to society. We know we are not perfect; we fail often. Sometimes that light will be dimmed or obscured by the sinful failings in our lives but as the wick of a candle needs to be trimmed and an electric light needs to be positioned free from obstruction with a shade that compliments it rather than obscures it, we also need to ensure the light of faith we carry shines out as best it can. This is how the Light of Christ can overcome the darkness of sin in the world around us.

God Bless Brendan.