Some
Thoughts on the Liturgy
SALT
AND LIGHT
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There is one passage of Scripture that should be read a
couple of times a year at one sitting in my opinion:
Matthew 5-7, what we have called the Sermon on the Mount
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the Gospels over the next couple of Sundays in Ordinary
Time will present that passage
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we heard the beginning of the Sermon last Sunday with the
Beatitudes, the general introduction to the way we should
behave in a moral manner
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this Sunday we hear two important images as Jesus begins
his Sermon on the Mount
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he taught his disciples to be salt and to be light
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I think that “salt” could mean the knowledge that we
must have in order to be the Christians that we should be
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we need knowledge of what Jesus wanted before we can
practice it
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that’s what our religious faith education program is
all about
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it’s the reason we spend so much time with our young
people trying to teach them the Christian Way (Catholic
school)
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it’s the reason we suggest spiritual reading
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it’s the reason why we have the Catechism
of the Catholic Church
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I’ll
give you a copy if you don’t have one
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a portion of which we should all read every once in a
while
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But there is much more than learning involved in
Christianity
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those of us who are a little older remember two dates
that we will never forget--when President John Kennedy
was killed in November of 1963 and September 11, 2001
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one of the radio broadcasters who was in the motorcade
during the president’s assassination said some words
that really struck me that day
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they could have been said at either of those times
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as the broadcaster was describing what was happening in
Dallas, suddenly the whole motorcade that was going
through Dallas began going toward one of the hospitals
there, and he said
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something
is terribly wrong here
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and I think that is one of the best descriptions of why
we need a guide for our world
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something is terribly wrong in our world and we need
people who will try to repair it
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I believe that is what Jesus meant when he taught us that
we must be lights to the world
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not only are we salt, that is, people who must know what
Jesus taught, but especially we must be people who are
lights,
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people who are able to help the things that are terribly
wrong in the world
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Our life situation may not be what would be called “high
profile”
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we are not going to be called on to be the principal
performer at the half-time of the Super Bowl
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we are not going to have our names written in the history
books of the third millennium
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but we all live some place and there are people around us
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we work some place with other people
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we say words to others
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we interact with and influence people in one way or
another
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we are called to be Christian lights in our own
circumstances
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Most of you know that I work with popular music
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and there are some excellent songs that we can learn from
if you can stand the music
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“Firework” by Katy Perry is one of them and a lot can
be learned from it
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“Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara is another
one
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but let me suggest that you listen to a song by the band
X Ambassadors and the name of it is “Unsteady” from a
couple years ago
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it is a song that talks about the importance of Moms and
Dads, and I think it should be required listening for
everyone who decides to have a family. “Hold on,” the
young person sings because he/she is a little unsteady.
“Mama,” the child sings, “come here. Daddy, I’m
alone ‘cause this house don’t feel like home. If you
love me, don’t let go. Hold on to me.”
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those are some of the words; you would do well to look up
all of the words on the Internet
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and the tie in here:
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we all have the salt or spark—Christian knowledge,
Jesus’ Sermons—within us
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and for parents, they know how a Christian should behave
toward their children
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our job is to ignite that spark—make us as parents
exactly what we should be for our children
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Just about every spiritual reading from the Scriptures
and books that are written to help our spiritual life
have these two elements as part of them
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salt, that is, knowledge of the faith; and light, that is
the carrying out of the faith
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today’s readings from Isaiah and Paul show that as well
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our prayer today is that we will be the salt and the
light to our world.
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