5th Sunday in
Ordinary Time-A
Maintaining our Usefulness and Radiance
as Salt of the Earth and Light of the World
Beloved in Christ, in our gospel today Jesus reminds us that
we are the salt of the earth and light of the world. He goes on to admonish us
to be careful with the way we live our lives so that we don’t lose our
usefulness as salts and our radiance as light. Our first and second readings
bring out some important dos and don’ts that we need to practice so that we do
not lose our relevance as salts and our radiance as light.
The first reading tells us that in addition to reaching out
to the poor, we need to avoid oppression, false accusation, and speaking evil
about people. I would like to suggest that we find some time this week to
reflect on these don’ts. Avoiding Oppression: Do you oppress people? You may
think “oh I don’t have any power, so I don’t oppress anybody”. But I want you
to think about this. When you are dealing with people, do you always want to be
the one receiving praises? Do you feel confortable when somebody else receives
the praise? Are you able to genuinely rejoice in the successes and blessings of
others? Do you manipulate your relationships to get what you want out of them
or do you empower others through your words and actions?
The reading also tells us we need to avoid false accusation
and malicious speech. As I reflected on this I remembered an incident that
happened last year. There was this person who always looked very grumpy and easily
got annoyed. Every time I talked with him he was grumpy. So I drew the
conclusion that this guy is just a grumpy person so I will not worry myself
about him. Anytime I was going to meet with him, I prepared my mind that he
would be grumpy. One day, I was having a chat with him and he did not look that
grumpy so I remarked: “Um, no offense but today you do not look grumpy”. He looked at me, smiled, and then told me he mostly
comes across as grumpy because he has sleep problems and does not get more than
one hour of sleep at night. I felt so ashamed because I was so wrong. I had
accused him falsely. I began to pray that God would cure him of his sleep
disorders. Beloved, maybe as you hear this story, you are thinking: “Oh father
Richmond, I thought you were better than that”. But before you judge me, I just
want you to take a moment to ask yourself “Do I always take time to
understand what is going on with people before I draw conclusions about their
behavior?
St. Paul in the second reading
tells us not to rely on human wisdom in our interaction with people. In our
interaction with family, friends, and others in our church community and the
society where we live, we need to allow the power and wisdom of God to direct
our thoughts and actions. It’s only in this way that we can maintain our
usefulness and radiance as salt of the earth and light of the world.
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