This Sunday’s gospel is brief but dense with meaning. It continues the proclamation of the beatitudes with which Jesus solemnly opens his first Sermon, that is, the most important one, the Manifesto or Constitution or Magna Carta, of the Kingdom of Heaven. He then immediately highlights the lofty calling of the disciples of this Kingdom and at the same time their arduous mission in life. And Jesus does so with a picturesque style peculiar to the teacher-sages of Israel, through two parallel expositions with the use of the images of salt and light. Therefore, we need to really dwell on each word in the phrases announced, in order to more fully savor and understand the divine Master’s words. This will help us to better apply the given message.
First of all, it is not superfluous to clarify that Jesus is speaking to his disciples, as we saw with the beatitudes last Sunday. Therefore, those around Jesus at that moment on the mountain and, by extension, all of Jesus’ disciples in every time and place, are the recipients of the twofold statement in today’s gospel, “You are the salt of the earth,” “You are the light of the world.” Here, there are two aspects to explore.
The first concerns the form used of the verb to be which, in the present tense and affirmatively, simply indicates a state, a natural identity. In other words, Jesus’ disciples are by nature of things “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” (metaphorically, of course!). This is the revelation about identity given to those who believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the one sent, and Son of God: “to those who did accept him gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name” (Jn. 1:12). Jesus’ disciples have become the children of God par excellence and as such are “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”
On the other hand, this dual affirmation of the disciples’ identity also turns out to be an exhortation or even an implicit warning. Disciples are called and reminded to always be what they already are by virtue of their adherence to Christ. Indeed, the exhortative-admonitory nuance of the phrases even seems to be the main one, as Jesus will later mention the tragic end of the salt that loses its nature as well as exhort the disciples, in the conclusion of the discourse, to let their light shine before men: “Your light must shine before others...” The identity of Christ’s disciples will also be their mission.
The second aspect concerns the subject of the statements, which is the second person plural, namely the pronoun “You.” Apparently, the collective communitarian vocation-identity of Christ’s disciples is emphasized in this way. Above all, the emphasis is on the witness of the entire community of disciples, according also to what the Risen Jesus said to his faithful before the Ascension, “You shall be my witnesses” (cf. Acts 1:8). The exhortation concerns everyone and thus each of the disciples. It certainly calls upon the responsibility of every believer to live up to his or her “Christian nature,” for while the holiness of one can help many, the scandal of one harms the reputation of all (as even a Vietnamese proverb says: Một con sâu làm rầu nồi canh “One worm ruins [lit. ‘saddens’] the whole [vegetable] soup”). Nevertheless, it is not a question here of the call addressed to individuals, exhorted to become superstar “champions” to enlighten the world and save the earth in isolation, each with their personal gifts, but of the vocation and mission of the whole community as such. The point is very important, but apparently under-emphasized. Such communitarian character will later be crucial for Christ’s disciples in carrying out the mission of their Master and Lord wherever they are. It is worth rereading Pope Francis’ authoritative teaching on this in World Mission Sunday Message 2022:
A deeper look at the words, “You shall be my witnesses,” can clarify a few ever timely aspects of the mission Christ entrusted to the disciples. The plural form of the verb emphasizes the communitarian and ecclesial nature of the disciples’ missionary vocation. Each baptized person is called to mission, in the Church and by the mandate of the Church: consequently, mission is carried out together, not individually, in communion with the ecclesial community, and not on one’s own initiative. Even in cases where an individual in some very particular situation carries out the evangelizing mission alone, he must always do so in communion with the Church which commissioned him. [...] Hence, in carrying out the mission, the presence of a community, regardless of its size, is of fundamental importance.
The Christian identity-mission then, that is, that of the entire Christian community, is revealed by Jesus with the two parallel and complementary images: “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” While each possesses its own symbolic meaning to be dissected later, one can already glimpse a common denominator of both: the “worldwide,” universal and all-embracing value of the vocation-mission of Christians. In this regard, I refer to St. John Chrysostom with his famous and passionate commentary:
You are the salt of the earth. It is not for your own sake, he says, but for the world’s sake that the word is entrusted to you. I am not sending you into two cities only or ten or twenty, not to a single nation, as I sent the prophets of old, but across land and sea, to the whole world. And that world is in a miserable state. For when he says: You are the salt of the earth, he is indicating that all mankind had lost its savor and had been corrupted by sin. [...]
Have you noticed how, bit by bit, Christ shows them to be superior to the prophets? He says they are to be teachers not simply for Palestine but for the whole world. Do not be surprised, then, he says, that I address you apart from the others and involve you in such a dangerous enterprise. Consider the numerous and extensive cities, peoples and nations I will be sending you to govern. For this reason I would have you make others prudent, as well as being prudent yourselves. For unless you can do that, you will not be able to sustain even yourselves. [...]
Then he passes on to a more exalted comparison: You are the light of the world. Once again, “of the world”: not of one nation or twenty cities, but of the whole world. The light he means is an intelligible light, far superior to the rays of the sun we see, just as the salt is a spiritual salt. First salt, then light, so that you may learn how profitable sharp words may be and how useful serious doctrine. Such teaching holds in check and prevents dissipation; it leads to virtue and sharpens the mind’s eye. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor do men light a lamp and put it under a basket. Here again he is urging them to a careful manner of life and teaching them to be watchful, for they live under the eyes of all and have the whole world for the arena of their struggles.
Recommending all to read the full commentary of the holy Doctor of the Church in our Useful Points section below, we add just a few notes on the expressions “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”
While the latter implies the function of light for the world, the expression “salt of the earth” seems to indicate simply the origin of this “salt” according to the popular view in Israel at that time. (Such salt then could also “lose” its flavor with time, as mentioned in Jesus’ saying.) For the function of salt, however, St. John Chrysostom’s beautiful and profound reflection on it is again worth mentioning:
You are the salt of the earth. What do these words imply? Did the disciples restore what had already turned rotten? Not at all. Salt cannot help what is already corrupted. That is not what they did. But what had first been renewed and freed from corruption and then turned over to them, they salted and preserved in the newness the Lord had bestowed. It took the power of Christ to free men from the corruption caused by sin; it was the task of the apostles through strenuous labor to keep that corruption from returning.
Continuing the Saint’s reasoning, we can metaphorically affirm this truth: Christ who saves and purifies from corruption is indeed the “special salt” of humanity, while the disciples are called to be salt for its preservation and, we may add, to give flavor to human life, precisely by virtue of the “special salt” power that is Christ. Disciples are salt in salt, as they will be to the world light in light, for their light is from God who is Light (cf. 1 John 1:5) and from Jesus, “Light from Light,” as we profess in the Church’s Creed. Indeed, Jesus himself is described at the beginning of his activities as a light shining into Galilee of Israel and the Gentiles, who dwelt in darkness, as we heard a few Sundays ago (cf. Mt. 4:12-16; also Jn. 1:5.9). He will then significantly declare, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12; cf. 9:5).
The very last statement highlights, on the one hand, the calling of the disciples to be light in following the Light that is Jesus, and on the other hand, it clarifies that the gift of light, brought by Jesus to the world, refers not only to the illumination of the mind, but also and especially to the life in God as a whole. The disciples are included in this chain of transmission: they have received from God in Jesus the light of life and now, they are called to pass it on to others, and this with all the naturalness that comes from an authentic and joyful life with and in Christ in spite of everything.
Considering our explanation so far, Jesus’ final exhortation mentioned above is not meant to recommend some kind of “showing off” of good works on the part of the disciples, but rather emphasizes a fundamental aspect of their vocation. That is, as long as the disciples follow Christ and persevere with Him and in Him, they have the light of life automatically shining before men (as it is said in another ancient Chinese and Vietnamese saying Hữu xạ tự nhiên hương “He who has the aroma, the fragrance naturally expands”). They become just like the true holy city of God that can never remain hidden because it is “set on a mountain”; they constitute that Jerusalem, called by God through the Old Testament prophets to actually become the light of the nations at the end of time. Moreover, just as “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” (Mt 5:15), it is not the disciples who will have to strive to demonstrate their light to all, but God Himself. He who has kindled in them the light of divine life will lead them to make “light to all in the house” as He wills, when He wills, and as long as He wills.
Finally, it should be pointed out that the special reference to the disciples’ “good deeds/works” as a fundamental part of their identity-mission of light concerns not only individual good works, but the whole of life in God. And all is rooted in the first good work required by God and necessary for man’s salvation: faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God (cf. Jn. 6:29: “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”). Such genuine faith, understood as adherence and faithfulness to God and Christ, is by nature “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6), as taught by St. Paul the apostle and emphasized so much by St. James (cf. Jas. 2). One could therefore read between the lines Christ’s own insistence: let the light of your faith, working through charity, shine before men first of all, that they may see and “glorify your heavenly Father.” And let that light of mutual love among Jesus’ disciples shine above all, for He Himself exhorted, “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn. 13:35), and He prayed to the Father, “that they [the disciples] may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you [the Father] sent me” (Jn. 17:23). So be it.
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