Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle

A
One of the qualities of the great teachers: is to say a lot with few words. Another quality is using
images, because the human mind tends to remember better what it can associate with images.
Another quality is to give examples that are easy to remember, especially if those who listen have
to count only on their ears to keep the treasure that they want to communicate.

According to these criteria we must classify Jesus Christ among the best of the best teachers. His
simple, close, deep, easy-to-remember comparisons truly fulfill the function of continuing to teach
us long after the echo of his words has faded.

Today in the Gospel we have two of the most famous comparisons of Christ. In which he
expresses; what does he want from us: The comparison is simple but incredibly profound; that we
ought to be light and that we ought to be salt. Let's try to learn something from these simple
words: if Christ sends his disciples as light, it is because there is something that must be
illuminated.

Within the Christian perspective, it is not possible to think of the world as if it were a garden of
delights, or as if it were a valley of peace. If the world needs light, it is because there is darkness
and every disciple of Christ must have among the clearest accounts that wherever he goes he will
always find some darkness. Anywhere, any culture, any person. Whether it is in the man or in the
woman, whether it is in the child or the in old man, whether it is in the north or in the south,
whether it is in the poor or in the rich.

Always Christian´s must be willing to find some darkness. Christ warns us so that we are not one of
those who simply go around lamenting, complaining and justifying themselves. Because the next
step that one takes, after lamenting the terrible state in which the world is in, is to shut oneself
away with that egoism that is depressed and sad.

The Christian according to the eye of our teacher, of our divine teacher; is that we should not be a
complaint box. What are you complaining about if Christ already told you from the beginning that
wherever you go, you are going to find some darkness?

I am a religious myself and live in a community called Missionaries Servants of the Word, let me
tell you that I have found some self-contradictions and in some occasion a scandal. I hope that no
one is scandalized, but if you go to the Vatican, you will find some darkness. If you are thinking of
changing to a sect (Iglesia ni Cristo, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc.) because the Catholic Church seems
very terrible to you, go ahead. But there, too, the darkness will meet you. Then you will find that in
those sects or groups that lamented and complained so much, the same or worse things happen
than in your original spiritual house. In other words, the solution is not to complain or run away,
the solution is to be light.

Being light implies being different, Christian´s is not called to blend in, to dissolve, to cowardly
disappear anonymously. Time and again the popes have reminded and taught us that we ought to
learn to go against the multitude. For a Christian it is normal to be different; light differs from
darkness. Because the other possibility is to " blend in ", to be one more copy. If you are not going
to be different, you are going to be the same. And now I ask you a question: are you sure you want
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle
A
a repetition of what you dislike? If your answer is no, then you have to prepare to be different.
And that means: prepare for disagreement, ridicule, disqualification, contempt, persecution, even
in the best of cases, martyrdom.

Here in the Philippines, there are so many Catholic schools and Catholic institutions, and I ask
myself a question: are they preparing the youth to be different, unique? To face the fact of being
different, without pedantically believing yourself to be better than others. This is where we
remember Saint Paul when he says: “Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that
you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive
it?” (1 Cor 4, 7) and we also remember Paul's second reading of today in which despite bringing
the gospel, the power of God, he himself appears weak and humble. Let's be different without
believing ourselves to be superior then others.

The parents, for their part, do you prepare your sons and daughters? so that sometimes they are
the only one in a classroom who knows that there is merit in being honest, who knows that there
is merit of being a virgin until marriage, who knows that there is merit in repaying what one is
given, who knows that there is merit in letting opportunities and advantages pass if they are from
the darkness. Parents, do you prepare your children for that? Do you prepare your daughters to be
the only ones who think about things that no one else believes in? That's what it means to be
different.

Today's first reading shows us how we have to be different, it's not arrogance, we already said
that, it's not believing one's better. The prophet Isaiah explains to us very well: “Share your bread
with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them,
and do not turn your back on your own”.

To be different and to be light is evidently to be an expression of an abundant good even of an

unexpected good, of an undeserved good. A Christian cannot limit himself to paying with the same
payment; “to smile only at those who smile at me” and “to invite only those who invite me”. You
don't need to be a Christian for that. There is a reason for the so-called “Law of Retaliation”: “an
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” it´s a custom and practice that covers all cultures. You don't
need to be a Christian for that. But to give more than what I receive, to melt the ice of indifference
with fire of attention and closeness and compassion, to return with blessing the curse that I
receive and to return with kindness the aggressiveness that I receive. For that, Jesus is needed.

This is why one Jesus needed and that´s why one cannot do anything without Jesus. But the one
who has Jesus and the one who works in this way and the one who is abundant in mercy, becomes
a reference, becomes an inspiration, becomes a light.

Last point: Christ also speaks to us about salt and there are various reasons that interpreters and
scholars often say why this comparison is made. Some say: “because salt helps preserve food”. It
does not allow the edibles to go bad. It is valid. Who is going to help ensure that a sacrosanct
institution called marriage is not corrupted or is not completely corrupted? The disciples of Christ
evidently, because the others are useless. The politician (I speak of Mexico) as a politician, is no
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Cycle
A
hope for anyone. Because the way in which politics is currently practiced; It is not one in which the
politician leads his people, but in which the people go ahead and the politician goes behind,
reading the polls: "let's see what the people want" and then he tells them: "I'm going to give this
or that”. And of course, those politicians are not leaders but followers. He is not going to fight for
anything worthwhile, except his electoral wealth, for nothing else he´s going to fight.

So, who is going to stop the family from being corrupted? Those who believe in Christ. Who will
fight for the embryos and fetuses? Those who believe in Christ. Those who know what each
human life is worth.

Another interpretation: it comes from the fact that salt produces an impact; the proper verb is to
sting. It stings, the salt stings and that salt that has that effect, that has that impact and that
causes that discomfort is also an example for the disciple, because the disciple of Christ must also
learn to bother precisely because he knows that he´s different.

But nevertheless, I like the last interpretation better: salt gives flavor. We as Christians are not
simply moralists, who walk around with our index finger extended saying: "I don't like this", "this is
very bad", "this is crap", "this must be rejected". As Christians, it is convenient for us and for the
world, even if we are castoff, to discover the true flavor of things. It is not simply defending the
marriage because it´s under attack. It is showing that a marriage in Christ is beautiful, that people
see a Christian marriage and say: "That is beautiful." The same is with the priest, the priest must
be faithful to his vocation not only so that he is not accused of being corrupt, but because his
testimony must show the joy, the flavor that life achieves when it is lived well. That is, we have to
show that life has a flavor, the flavor of love.

What a great teacher Jesus Christ is, the best and how good it is to recognize ourselves as his
disciples and to learn to be light and to begin to be salt.