Tuesday 08 June

TENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

LIGHT IS ITS OWN PROOF: SALT AND LIGHT

Introduction

During the communist regime in Poland, only a dozen or so Catholic secondary schools for girls remained under the direction of religious sisters. They had to follow the state program without any religion. When asked whether there was still any sense in their work, a sister directress answered: “We stay with the girls, we are a presence among them. If we try to be good Christians, we automatically let the light shine. Light is its own proof. One has not to talk about it.” Her words echo those of Christ in the Gospel. A Christian has not necessarily to preach from a pulpit. Authentic Christian living is a proclamation all by itself.

 

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,

your Son asks of every disciple
to be the salt and the light of the world.
Season our lives and words
with the salt of the Gospel,
that all those who encounter us
may taste how good it is
to live in your love
and to work in joy and hope
towards a world and a heaven
of justice, peace and friendship.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

 

Reading 1: 2 Cor 1:18-22

Brothers and sisters:
As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no.”
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us,
Silvanus and Timothy and me,
was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes” has been in him.
For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;
therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.
But the one who gives us security with you in Christ
and who anointed us is God;
he has also put his seal upon us
and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.

 

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135

R.(135a) Lord, let your face shine on me.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
gives understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Turn to me in pity
as you turn to those who love your name.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Steady my footsteps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity rule over me.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Let your countenance shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.

 

Alleluia: Mt 5:16

Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your light shine before others
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
R.Alleluia, alleluia.

 

Gospel: Mt 5:13-16

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
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.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”

 

Intercessions

– That in the Church, there may be men and women today who show us something of the face of God by their goodness and concern for the poor and the little people, we pray:

– That in our communities, we may be like the salt that preserves among us a sense of service and commitment to one another, we pray:

– That we may not be blind to the needs of the poor and those suffering and help them carry their burdens, we pray:

 

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
you give taste to our lives
through the bread and wine of your Son,
for they steep us in his love and faithfulness.
Do not allow us to lose our savor/flavor
but give it more vigor to use it to preserve in this world
the goodness and dedicated love
which you’ve shown us in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.

 

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,

the words spoken by your Son
have been a light on the path of life
and his body, our source of renewal.
Do not allow us to hide the light
of his self-forgetting, faithful love
but let it shine in us,
that people may see in us
a reflection of his goodness
and give praise to you,
our God, for ever and ever.

 

Blessing

“I am the light of the world,” said Christ, and he says of us, too: “you must be, the light of the world.” Let your faith shine and inspire, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

Commentary

I once heard a lawyer say in defense of a patently unjust decision, “The courts are not courts of justice, they are courts of law.” One wonders then what they are for. What justifies the existence of a law, if not that it should be in the service of justice? But justice is a difficult search, and life has to go on quickly, so we settle for law. 

“We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die” (Jn 19:7). It was this same law that Jesus said he came to fulfill. What could he have meant by “fulfilling the law”? Not its observance to the letter: he defiantly broke the law on many occasions—certainly, as it was understood in his time. By fulfilling the law he meant fulfilling the purpose for which it was made: that is, justice (or “righteousness,” as the Scriptures calls it: that includes a just relationship with God). He may have been thinking of the text in Isaiah (55:11), “My word that goes out from my mouth shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

But why then does he say that “not the smallest letter or stroke of the law will change until all is fulfilled”? It is not the law that is wrong, but its separation from justice. Clever people can even make the law an enemy of justice. This happens daily in the wide world, and sadly, also in the Church.