Homily For Tuesday Tenth Week in Ordinary Time Year A, 13th June, 2023. The Memorial of St. Antony of Padua

Reading: 2 Cor. 1:18-22; Ps. 119; Matt.5:13-16

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

ARE WE STILL THE SALT AND LIGHT TO TASTELESS AND DARKENED HEARTS OF HUMANITY?

 

Salt and light are very familiar words in the scriptures. Often times salt is used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, and purification. Salt as we know is used to enhance flavour, it preserves and purifies things. Salt distinguishes Identity and adds values to things. it’s inexpensive but valuable, necessary for life and stands as a basic identity for believers, of which we either use it or lose its effects.

 

In a similar way, light is a symbol used to mean awareness, knowledge, and understanding. Light clarifies, Illuminates, Inspires, defeats darkness, shines fully and freely, it guides, stimulates and motivates, provokes action, it irritates those who like darkness, confirms truth, purifies, exposes sin, warms and assures us of safety and also facilitates progress.

 

Little wonder, Jesus in our Gospel passage today, told us the famous parable of the salt of the earth and the light of the world. In this parable Jesus made it clear that to be salt and light means to be a witness to others concerning the truth of God's Word to humanity and this is the mission he entrusted to the Church through his disciples.

 

Thus, we are entrusted with this mission during our baptism, when we were given salt as a sign of God’s life in us and are commanded never to lose the taste or forget the life and joy that God has given us to share with others. In a similar way, we were given candle light which we are to kept brightly burning as a flame of faith in our hearts as we journey with others towards our heavenly kingdom. Therefore, Jesus clearly defines the role of the Church in the world as that of salt and light. Salt to preserves the faith and give flavour to the life of humanity. While light to illuminates darkness and reflects the glory of God in the darkness of the passing world.

 

So, every Christian is called by God to influence the world positively, by saying yes to God as we heard in our first reading when St Paul said: it is always Yes, and however many the promises God made, the Yes to them all is in him. For it is God himself who assures us all of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts. However, most of us Christians have failed to appropriate the benefits, privileges and responsibilities of being salt and light to humanity. As a result, many people suffer because we have continued to embrace the darkness of the things of this passing world and are spoiled by its destructive ways.

 

Dear friends, as Christians are we still the salt and light to tasteless and darkened hearts of humanity? For the core message today is that all of us are called to positively influence the lives of humanity by our attitude and character which should be like that of salt and light. Where there is darkness we should let the light of Christ illuminate. Where pride, selfishness, corruption and greed have made life tasteless, let the salt of our good attitude and character make it tasty. Where sin and immorality have made humanity filthy and ugly, let our light of holiness purify. For this is the attitude and disposition of St. Anthony of Padua whose memorial we celebrate today, for he was a great theologian and preacher of the Gospel.

 

St. Anthony of Padua made us to know that we can prove we are God’s servants by our courage, patience, holiness and kindness. Though, looking most miserable and poor, yet we make others rich, and even when it appears we are having nothing, yet we have everything in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, we are to reject all forms of violence, retaliation and vengeance. And as salt and light of the world, we should focus all our attention on forgiveness, mercy and peace in a sacrificial way so that through our sacrificial love the world will become more peaceful and loving. Remember, if we lose the value and taste of who we are as Christians, the world will trample upon us because we will be good for nothing.

 

LET US PRAY: Heavenly Father, as we struggle everyday to truly carryout the mission entrusted to us, give us through the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua the grace and courage to dedicate ourselves, our time, our energy and effort to becoming true light and salt in our dark and tasteless families, society and the world at large. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful day.