Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time

Fr. Raymond - Homily

Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time

"You are the light of the earth. ... -- From Today's Gospel Matthew 5: 13-16

Sun 5 yr.1

Jesus says that his followers will be a light to the world and salt for the earth.

Since we are his followers then we must consider ourselves as being this ‘light for the world’ this ‘salt for the earth’.  Certainly it would be, to say the least, a bit presumptuous of us if we just to say it of ourselves.  But it is Christ himself who says it of us and therefore it is something we must believe in; and not only is it something we must believe in, but it is something we must try our very best to live up to.  In fact it is one of the very fundamental obligations of  our Baptism.  Just as “No one lives for himself alone; no one dies for himself alone”,  so too, no one is baptized for himself alone.  The privilege of our Baptism means that we must do our best to share among our brothers and sisters in this world the wonderful light and life of grace that we have inherited.

In facing up to this tremendous responsibility it is encouraging for us to realise the power of the grace that is in us;  the tremendous power that is at work in us; the tremendous power that enables us to carry it out effectively and fruitfully.  When we look around at the world about us we could easily be dismayed.  There is so much evil at work.  Its influence seems to be so widespread and so powerful.  What can we do about it?  How can we possibly make any difference?  How can you and I be a light to the world and salt to the earth? The forces of Evil seem to have such a hold on the media, for instance; the press, the radio, television.  Unhealthy values are blared out on every side and dinned into our sight and hearing, into our minds day and night everywhere.

But here we must remember those wonderful words of St Paul:  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more”.  The face of grace is not so brazen as the face of evil; the voice of grace is not so strident as the voice of evil, but grace is none the less more powerful in many ways than they are to reach into the minds and hearts of men.  Grace and goodness are more powerful to lead them to the good than sin is to lead them to evil.  “Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more”. We must believe very firmly in that truth.  “Overcome evil with good” St Paul tell us, and he could not say that unless it was indeed possible to overcome evil with good; he could not say that unless Good was indeed more powerful than Evil.

The ultimate proof of this was given us on the hill of Calvary where evil thought it had triumphed over good but where , what it thought was its triumph, was in fact its own undoing.   

Fr. Raymond