Y’all Salty?

Living the life God meant for you means practicing the works of Mercy

JMJ

A quick look at this week’s readings shows a couple of interesting things. First, we have this beautiful list of works of mercy in the Old Testament. This is a human to do list of goodness and righteousness that so often we push aside. Oh well I can’t give my money to that person or I plan to help at a soup kitchen next month or any myriad number of excuses we give ourselves. But we miss the immediate call of the Lord by pushing it off. Now is the time we are to act. We are Christ’s hands and feet on earth, we are to reach out to those in need.

Think of the Holy Family. Joseph and Mary are both models of acting immediately upon God’s word. Mary no sooner finds out about her own pregnancy that she rushes with haste to help her cousin Elizabeth. Joseph, hearing God’s will in a dream, awakes and acts. Even more importantly, on hearing that first angel, Joseph “does not turn his back on his own” (Is 58:7) but takes Mary, his wife, into his home.

Isiah says that these works of mercy are not only for those receiving our mercy, but for our own benefit as well. Look at these lines that speak of how God restores and empowers us by these wonderful works:

“Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,and your wound shall quickly be healed;your vindication shall go before you,and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am!” (Is 58:8–9)

We gain the light when we act in the light. God heals our wounds, hears our prayers, and will remain with us. The Lord says that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth in the Gospel. Through our baptism, we are illuminated in Christ and must reflect this inner light into the world. We cannot hide our light. The Holy Family had no choice, being so close to Jesus, but to shine His light to the world in all times throughout the centuries to today.

The gloominess of our lives can be transformed into the noonday soon. But what is this gloom that keeps us down? It is gossip, malicious speech, false accusation, and the heavy social yoke that tears down not only others but ourselves. How prone we are to these sins! I know that even the saints are tempted to this type of unnecessary speech. St. Faustina talks often of it. I know control of my tongue is a struggle for me.

And this is a sin that most could have endangered Mary and Joseph in the ancient world. Mary could’ve died because of other’s speech against her; Joseph faced social pressure since his wife was pregnant before they lived together. They had to live as refugees. They were the oppressed and homeless, but God was closest to them. And he will be close to us, here with us, when we live out this mercy and prevent ourselves from the malicious yoke that we are so eager to cast down on our shoulders.

One interesting note from the Greek this week: the word for “losing our flavor” is mōrainō. This means both to make flat or flavorless and also to act foolishly. It’s the same word used by St. Paul in 1Cor 1:20, “Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?” If we do not keep the light of God in us, or the salt he has given us, we become fools who speak nonsense and will be trampled underfoot by other men. And this trampling is not just metaphorical. The Lord’s word here is katapateō which means to insult, spurn, or treat with neglect. This is our fate if we do not live out the works of mercy.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us that we may retain our saltiness, keep our light on the lamp stand, be the city on the hill, and live out these works of mercy daily.