Daily Reading
First Reading
2 Corinthians 1:18-22
As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes and No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not “Yes and No”; but in him it is always “Yes.” For in him every one of God’s promises is a “Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory of God. But it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, by putting his seal on us and giving us his Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
Psalm
Psalm 119:129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135
Your decrees are wonderful;
therefore my soul keeps them.
The unfolding of your words gives light;
it imparts understanding to the simple.
With open mouth I pant,
because I long for your commandments.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is your custom toward those who love your name.
Keep my steps steady according to your promise,
and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
Gospel Reading
Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Reflection
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls his followers salt and light, thus exhorting them to evangelize their culture.
The theme of Jesus’ “inaugural address” is conversion: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” And the motif of his final words is mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” The Christian life is lived in between, and under the conditioning of, these two imperatives.
Having been seized by the beauty of revelation, our only proper response is a change of life and a commitment to become a missionary on behalf of what we have seen. In the scriptural tradition, no vision or experience of God is ever given solely for the edification of the visionary; rather, it is given for the sake of mission. Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Peter, and Paul are visionaries because they are missionaries.
When Jesus crucified and risen is not proclaimed, a beige and unthreatening Catholicism emerges, a thought system that is, at best, an echo of the environing culture. Peter Maurin, one of the founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, said that the Church has taken its own dynamite and placed it in hermetically sealed containers and sat on the lid.