Salt and Light - Style and Substance

Homily for Tuesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time

Irony and humor are frequently used by the evangelists in Gospels. The Sermon on the Mount contains no little irony.

The Beatitudes which begin the Sermon on the Mount are full of irony. Jesus contrasts the perception of human beings with the perception of God. What humans consider negative comes with a positive reward. What humans try to avoid is actually what God is looking for.

The discussion of salt and light can also be read as ironic or sardonic. Jesus is pointing out difference between appearing and being, between looking the part and living the reality. I am reminded of a comment that Paul Hollywood often uses to critique the contestants on the Great British Baking Show – style over substance.

Salt does its work without drawing attention to itself; light does its work simply by being what it is. But Jesus adds a gentle warning. Salt can look like salt and yet be tasteless—useful for nothing but being thrown on the path. A lamp can be lit and yet hidden under a basket, its flame smothered. The irony is clear: it is possible to appear to be what we are not actually living.

Applied to the notion of discipleship, we hear Jesus warning us against the hollowness of claiming to be a disciple without fulfilling the obligations of this role. However, if our prayer is sincere, if our charity is warm, if our forgiveness is quick, then the Father who sees in secret will allow our lives to carry the taste of the Gospel and the light of Christ into the places that need it most.