Be salt for the earth

In a few days' time, we will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of Prayer for the Sick.  In anticipation of this important day, it is fitting that we should spend some time reflecting on the lessons that we can learn from our interactions with those who are sick and suffering.  Each week, we pray for our brothers and sisters who are weakened as a result of illness, but truly being present to those who are suffering in this way is an integral part of living our faith, for in doing so, we touch the wounds of Jesus.

In the gospel, Jesus tells his disciples: you are salt for the earth (Mt 5:13) ... and you are light for the world (Mt 5:14).  These words must have sounded perplexing to those who first heard them.  Even though many years have come and gone, each time we read these words, they should sound equally as perplexing to us today.  What does Jesus mean when he says that we are salt for the earth.  Scripture scholars tell us that salt has always been important for preserving food, and for enhancing its taste.  Therefore, Jesus used these images in order to tell us that we have a duty to enhance our encounters with others by sharing our faith with them.

It may seem paradoxical that the society we live in can be filled with so much wealth and yet there are so many of our neighbours who suffer the poverty of loneliness.  Many of us are extremely tech savvy and yet we are forgetting the art of socializing.  Canadian society would have us believe that the introduction of a practice known as Medical Assistance in Dying is a matter of respecting an individual's right to choose, yet the promised inclusion of Hospice and Palliative Care as alternate options for taking care of those who have been diagnosed with terminal illnesses has yet to be enshrined with the same level of acceptance.

On 31 January of this year, the President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote a letter on behalf of all Catholic Bishops in this country in which he unequivocally affirmed and maintained the fundamental belief in the sacredness of all human life, a value which we share with many others ... including persons of different faiths and of no faith at all.

Jesus challenges us to be light for our world.  We do this by speaking out whenever the values and beliefs we have learned are being tested.  We do this by respecting the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death.  We do this by proclaiming the mystery of God, not in lofty words or wisdom (1 Cor 2:1) but rather by offering the food of our faith to those who are hungry for acceptance and by satisfying the needs of those who are truly afflicted (cf Is 58:10), especially those who cannot speak for themselves.