DAILY- HOMILY

FEBRUARY 6, 2011
5TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A

Is 58:7-10 / Ps 112:4-5, 6-7, 8-9/ 1 Cor 2:1-5 / Mt 5:13-16

ISAIAH 58:7-10
Thus says the Lord: Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring
to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not
turn away from your own kin. Then will your light will break forth as
the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be
your vanguard, the Glory of Yahweh your rearguard. Then you will call
and Yahweh will answer, you will cry and he will say, I am here. If
you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked
word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the
oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be
like noon.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5
When I came, my brothers and sisters, to reveal to you the mystery of
God's plan I did not count on eloquence or on a show of learning. I
was determined not to know anything among you but Jesus, the Messiah,
and a crucified Messiah. I myself came weak, fearful and trembling; my
words and preaching were not brilliant or clever to win listeners. It
was, rather, a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith
might be a matter, not of human wisdom, but of God's power.

MATTHEW 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth. But if
salt has lost its strength, how can it be made salty again? It has
become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on
it. "You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot
be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead it is put on a
lampstand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same
way your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good
you do and praise your Father in heaven."

REFLECTION
Our Gospel reading today is part of the famous Sermon on the Mount, a
very important instruction for anyone who desires to be a follower of
Christ. It may have been delivered centuries ago when Jesus was
embarking on his mission, but there is a timelessness about this
sermon that makes it as contemporary for us as Jesus is himself who is
always Emmanuel, God with us!

Calling it a "sermon" may not do full justice to it. Many sermons that
we hear or read fade after a while into our memory files and are
forgotten, but this sermon is always ringing in our ears and in our
hearts and is forgotten only at our peril. It is more than just a
sermon in the usual sense of the word, and therefore, it is more than
worthwhile for any Christian to continually "listen" to Jesus
addressing us as he addressed the disciples gathered before him on the
mountain.

This Gospel reading is not the whole sermon, but it gives us an
important portion of the sermon for today's reflection.

Jesus uses salt and light as symbols to explain what he wants to tell
us. We are familiar with both. We use salt, as Jesus uses the symbol
of salt here, to add flavor to our food which without it would be
tasteless. And here the Lord is telling us, you and me, that we can be
like salt to add flavor and taste to our world.

This has reference to the vitality of our faith and how we live our
faith. We know that there are some who call themselves Christians but
who are Christians in name only. The salt of real faith has gone out
of their lives; their faith is flat and does not add to our world the
flavor that it should add.

It may be a faith that is without fruit, a faith with no good deeds to
show that it is alive, a faith without any real contribution to the
welfare of our sisters and brothers who need to be helped, a faith
with no actions that help the neighbors around us. Such a faith is
really like salt that has lost its flavor and is useless for our
world.

By using the symbol of salt Jesus is telling us that our faith should
have an impact on our world. That doesn't mean that we have to be
broadcasting our faith by words. But it does mean that our world
should be "salted" by the lives we live. If we really live what we
claim to believe, we will, by our lives, much more than by any words,
be salt for our earth. If we don't show by how we live that we really
do believe, then our salt has gone flat and is useless.

To stress further that our faith should be a living faith, Jesus
compares it to light. It hopefully will be like light that is shining
brightly to give light to all around us. Yes, our faith should be
alive so that the light of our faith will not be light from low-energy
batteries. Explicitly, Jesus tells us that this light, the light of a
living faith, is a light that is made up of good works.

Of course there is danger that we might perform good works so that we
will build up our reputation and be praised. But notice what Jesus
says: "Your light must shine before men so that they may see the
goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly father." Thus,
so-called good works that are performed for selfish reasons to make
ourselves look great are not the good works that will give praise to
the heavenly Father. As is true of all our works of faith, the more we
can be "other oriented" and be men and women for others, the brighter
will be the light that shines from our faith.

With God's help given to us by the Spirit, the salt of our lives can
be refreshed. It does not have to go flat and become useless. We can
in so many ways – by prayer, retreats, study, faith-sharing in groups,
to give some examples – keep the salt of our faith from going flat.
And similarly, we can keep the light of our faith shining brightly so
that by the goodness of our lives our world will be enlightened.

Let us keep our salt from going flat, and let us keep our light
shining brightly.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the speedy recovery and healing of
- Rita P. Cuerva
- Ely Lara
… for the personal intentions of
- Cherie Torres
- Titong V
… for the eternal repose of the souls of
- Mercy Colangi
- Ricardo A. Garcia
Eternal rest grant unto them and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May they and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Milliette R. Mascarinas
- Birthday: His Eminence, Ricardo J. Cardinal Vidal, DD
- Birthday: Carolina Estrella Bate
- Birthday: Amb. Alfonso Yuchengco
- Birthday: Vicky Nañagas and Gabriel
- In Memoriam (+): Luis Roleda
- In Memoriam (+): Francis B. Ang (July 1, 1927- Feb 6, 2005)+
- In Memoriam (+): Dionisio F. Galvan
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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