29 August | EVERYONE
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Matthew 5: 13,14
We live in an increasingly bland world. María Suárez, a twenty-eight-year-old Peruvian citizen, plunged into the abyss with her son in her arms from a bridge, paradoxically known as the "Bridge of Life." In a message to her relatives, Maria told them that she had lost the will to live, and that this world had no meaning.
Loneliness and existential emptiness reign among people. Values are turned upside down and principles cease to be eternal to become passing clouds that go from one side to the other. What was bad is now good and vice versa. In the midst of this distortion of concepts and values, Jesus' words to His followers about "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world" resonate.
With these words, Jesus established the reason for our existence. Any object, person, or action has meaning as long as it fulfills its purpose. The purpose of salt is to flavor things, but if salt no longer serves its purpose, it naturally loses its reason for existing. As today's text implies, it just deserves to be thrown away.
Something similar happens with light. No one lights a candle on a dark night to hide it in a container, for the purpose of light is to illuminate. The followers of Jesus are salt and light.
They come into this world with a purpose. Their mission is to spice up the world. Not only with words but by example. A basic reason for our existence as social beings is to illuminate moral darkness with the light of an enlightened life.
Take Action
Do you accept that reason for your existence? Do you like to season and illuminate, without flaunting it, the lives of the people you interact with? Sing "Salt and Light" (if possible, with your family).