Salt and Light - Feb 8, 2026

Good morning, brothers and sisters.

Today’s Gospel from Matthew Chapter 5 continues Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which we started last Sunday and will continue next Sunday. Last week, we heard that Jesus went up a mountain, sat down and taught his disciples – starting with the Beatitudes:  Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, etc.  Jesus was depicted as the new Moses, who went up a mountain to obtain the Ten Commandments. Next week, on the Mount of the Beatitudes, Jesus will teach that we must go beyond the 10 Commandments – like ‘do not kill’ or ‘do not commit adultery’ - we must avoid even calling our brother ‘fool’ and looking at a person with lust – or else we will be ‘liable for fiery Gehenna’. He teaches that we must love even our enemies, and follow the Golden Rule – to do unto others what we would have them do unto us.

These are some of the most critical passages in the entire Bible, since Jesus is laying out what Christianity should look like – he is laying out his new Law – the law of love.

And today’s Gospel is smack in the middle of this Sermon on the Mount. In the midst of giving the new Law, Jesus says that we should be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. He says, [quote]

“your light must shine before others,

that they may see your good deeds

and glorify your heavenly Father."

This is to say: living Jesus’ teachings should change us, we should look and act differently. People should see the loving acts that we do, and marvel at God’s grace at work within us.

This isn’t easy, brothers and sisters. How can we be salt and light?

Let’s consider for a moment the nature of salt, and of light.

Salt is an unassuming white powder – it might easily be mistaken for sand or chalkdust. Nowadays, salt is cheap and easy to get. But in ancient times pure salt was hard to come by – usually they got it by collecting sea water in pools and allowing the hot sun evaporate it.  Salt had immense value – in fact, the word ‘salary’ comes from the ‘salarium’, which Roman soldiers received every month – as a monthly allowance to buy salt.  Before humans had refrigerators, salt was the main means of preserving food from spoiling – including fish that the apostles caught. Salt was particularly important for Jews, as it was necessary for Temple sacrifices and the Shabbat meal. Nowadays, we know that sodium is critical in the human body, for maintaining fluid balance and for sending nerve signals and starting muscle contractions. Salt of course is also a cook’s best friend – it helps to bring out flavor – to make beef taste more beefy, or green beans taste more bean-y.  It brings out the best of food.  But all good things in moderation – we’ve all tasted food that was over-salted, and hopefully we all know that people with high blood pressure should avoid a high salt diet. But salt in moderation it is certainly an amazing and humble substance. Notably, salt only works if it is used up, if it sacrifices itself, as it were. Once you taste a grain of salt, it is gone – forever absorbed. Also, It is never the 'center of attention' at a dinner table, always at service of other dishes.

So Jesus says we should be like salt: we should be humble, unassuming, and transformative: sacrificing ourselves to transform the world around us, to bring out the best in others.

And consider light. In Jesus’ time, light was provided through oil lamps – usually a clay lamp with a wick that went into olive oil.  Like salt, oil was valuable and obtaining it was a laborious process – you would need to harvest olives, then crush them to squeeze out oil. And, just like salt, the oil is spent when it is used. Recall the parable of the 10 foolish virgins, whose lamps go dark because the oil is all burned up. And a lamp is never in its own service, but illuminating something else. Lamps provided a critical function: illuminating Temple worship with the Menorah, lighting families’ homes, and providing warmth. Also, lit lamps can light other lamps – just during the Easter Vigil the single Easter Candle lights all the other candles. And just like we put our Easter candle on a stand, of course you’d put your lamp on a lampstand to provide as much light as possible; you’d be a fool to put a basket on top of it, both because it would block out the light and it might catch fire. Or you’d be a fool to stare directly at the light of the sun. Similar to salt, light or fire is an amazing extremely useful thing, but it can be dangerous if there’s too much.

Just so, Jesus says we should be a warm light in our world – in the workplace, at school, at home. And how do we do this? Through self-sacrificial love – of giving ourselves.  Just like the salt or the oil only work by being used up.

We believers should stand out in our acts of kindness, whether to our loved ones, or to strangers – as the first reading from Isaiah says:

“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.”

And Isaiah promises rewards to those who do good – who practice these Corporal Works of Mercy - “your wound shall quickly be healed;” – how often, when we attend to others, when we give of ourselves, do we feel ourselves rejuvenated?

“…then light shall rise for you in the darkness,

and the gloom shall become for you like midday.” – how often, when we are feeling down, does going out and touching others help us get out of our rut?

There’s a story that St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta used to tell. When she was in Australia she visited an old man who lived by himself. His home was in a terrible mess, and Mother Teresa asked if she could clean his home. He said, ‘I’m all right!’ but she said, ‘You will be more all right if I clean your place.’ And she found in his home a beautiful old lamp, covered in dirt and dust. She asked ‘Why don’t you light your lamp?’ He said, “Why would I light it? No one visits me?” Then she asked him, ‘Will you light the lamp if the Sisters come to see you?’ He said, ‘Yes, if I hear a human voice I will do it.’ Years later, this man sent Mother Teresa a message through her Sisters: ‘Tell my friend the light she has lit in my life is still burning.’ 

So yes, we Christians should practice the Corporal Works of Mercy. There are so many opportunities all around us, including our St Vincent de Paul Society. Or perhaps there’s an opportunity at work, if they’re doing holiday decorations, that you could organize a Giving Tree, for donations to the Boston Food Bank.

But here in the U.S. in 2026, which has less physical poverty but more spiritual poverty than many other places – we should also seek to practice the Spiritual Works of Mercy: “admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, comfort the sorrowful, bear wrongs patiently, forgive injuries, and pray for the living and the dead.”

This is where we Catholics squirm a little bit, because it’s all well and good to donate clothes to a clothing drive… but it feels awkward to step outside our comfort zone to provide admonishment, or instruction, or counsel to others. We don’t like talking about our faith, we don’t want to appear preachy.

Yes, it is possible to go overboard – just like too much salt spoils the food or misusing lamps causes a fire. So during your lunch hour in the work breakroom, maybe you don’t have to make a huge commotion to loudly say Grace out loud. But perhaps you could silently do the Sign of the Cross and say your blessing to yourself. Maybe this will remind someone else that they should pray over their own food, or perhaps it will start a conversation. Nowadays we tend to err on the side of being bland, of hiding our lamps under a bushel basket.  

I’ve mentioned before a question that we should consider:

“If you were to be put on trial at the hour of your death, for the charge of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

Do the people in your life – coworkers and friends and perhaps even chance acquaintances – know that you are a Catholic-Christian?  Are you a city set on a hill, a lamp on a stand, or are you hiding your light under a basket?

Today is Super-Bowl Sunday, and you may know that our young star Patriots Quarterback has made no secret of his Christian faith, that being a follower of Jesus is 'the number one thing in his life'. He has said: "“I think the biggest thing is using my platform to spread the Word and spread the Good News.” Our Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is a devout Catholic who has spoken similarly [and has voiced interest in becoming a deacon!]. Brave men.

In the Gospels we heard earlier this week [for the feast of St Agatha], Jesus spoke the words: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory.”

If a colleague or classmate is poking fun at Christianity or religion, this is your chance to speak up.

Maybe someone else in the room themselves is wavering in faith, and your engagement starts a conversation that strengthens them. As we prayed in our Responsorial Psalm: “The just person is a light in darkness to the upright.”

If you’re out for dinner with friends on Friday, perhaps you order the fish or veggie option - remember that abstaining from meat is recommended on Fridays, and required on Fridays in Lent.

Speaking of Lent – it’s fast approaching… so perhaps we would do well to do think of how we can better be salt and light in the world, so that Ash Wednesday does not catch us unawares.

It could be as simple as accepting the crosses that God has given to us, with more patience and less complaining. Perhaps you’re enduring significant suffering right now. Perhaps you feel like an olive being crushed for oil, or seawater being evaporated with the hot sun. Know that God can make great good come from suffering, just like the oil and the salt. Perhaps you’re taking care of a family member, and feeling burned out – like a lamp running low on oil or a candle burning low. Know that Christ is with you. The Church Fathers compared the cross of Christ to a lampstick that held the Light of the World. In his great moment of suffering and humiliation, Christ’s light shined out. Perhaps God is calling you to endure your suffering with joy – so that others may ‘see your joy and glorify your Heavenly Father.’

May it be so.

Stay salty, my friends.