Today’s Gospel, from Matthew, is one that most of us are probably quite familiar with. Jesus tells His disciples that they are the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” If we live as salt and light, we would have a huge impact.
Reading through the Gospel this morning, I was reminded of something that Bishop Robert Barron said in a talk at the National Eucharistic Congress in 2024. In his keynote address, he said, “Think – what if 70 million Catholics, starting tonight, began to live their faith radically and dramatically, and became body offered, blood poured out. It would change the country”. Each of us is called to live our faith radically, to be “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” as Jesus tells us in the Gospel. If each and every single baptized Catholic did this, the country and world really would change.
We should want to have a faith that is not surface level and hidden, but deep and bold. And this sort of faith is not something that happens by doing nothing. We need to cultivate this kind of faith by taking steps each day to become the disciples that Jesus is asking us to be. If we all did this, not only would the world change, but we too would be changed.
We cannot force anyone else to live their faith. We must simply start with ourselves. If we live our faith radically and authentically, it can have an impact on other people, possibly inspiring them to do the same. So, we can ask ourselves, “am I being the salt and light?” If not, how can I change?
Jesus calls us to more than a surface level faith. He calls us to a radical and life-changing faith. If our faith is truly being lived out, our lives will point to Him. My prayer for each of us today is that we would contemplate how to be the salt and light for Christ, because when we do, others will see Him!
Faith and The Good Stuff 