5th Sunday of Ordinary Time A - You are the light of the world

Today's Word pushes us very concretely to let our light shine by allowing our faith to become visible in what we do, especially for the sake of the poor, the suffering, and the people right in front of us.

In the 1st Reading Isaiah speaks of light, not as a form of energy, but as acts of faith and love.

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. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn...if you bestow your bread on the hungry. and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday.

In the Gospel, Jesus calls his disciples “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world,” and concludes by echoing Isaiah: “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Notice two things: 

• Our Light has to be visible: “that they may see your good deeds.” 
• Our ​Light is God-centered: “…and glorify your heavenly Father."

When you see a house at night with even one window lit, you know someone is home. Our deeds of faith are that lit window in a cold dark world; they signal that God is ‘home’ in this heart, in this parish, in this neighborhood.

This is where it becomes challenging and needs honest introspection:

• If a stranger watched my life for a period of time (week, moth year) would they see any sign that I belong to Christ?
• Do my choices at work, online, and in my neighborhood look any different because of the Gospel?
• Am I hiding my light out of fear, laziness, or the desire to fit in?

Jesus said:
​A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

My friends, the goal is not to manufacture our own brilliance, but rather,  to stay close to Jesus so that HIS light naturally leaks through our words, our patience, and our works of mercy. Then what he says in the Gospel becomes true among us: others will see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.
 
Are you a bushel basket or a lampstand?
​
Peace

​Deacon Michel