5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023

Most Reverend José H. Gomez
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
February 5, 2023

My brothers and sisters in Christ,¹

As I was saying, today we continue the reading of the Sermon on the Mount. Last Sunday in our Gospel, we recall, we heard the beginning of Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, the great summary of his teachings.

Last week he taught us the Beatitudes, the path that we should follow to find happiness in our lives and the blessings of heaven.

The Gospel today, that we just heard, picks up where he left off last week. And Jesus makes two statements about our identity as disciples.

He says: “You are the salt of the earth” and then “You are the light of the world.”

Whenever Jesus starts a sentence with the words, “you are,” I think we need to pay special attention. Because he is telling us something important about our purpose in life, the purpose of our mission.

And our purpose is just this: to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world.

And I as I was reflecting on it, I think they are very interesting images because salt and light — something that we know very well — salt and light do not really exist for their own sake.

If we think about it, we don’t eat salt all by itself, usually. We use salt to add flavor to other foods. And we use salt to prevent foods from spoiling.

The same is true with light. We turn on a lamp so we can see in a dark room. We shine a light so we can find our way in darkness.

But Jesus is telling us today that our lives have that same quality. You are salt, you are light. And that means we are not here for our own sake. We are here for the sake of others.

We are here to be “salt,”— we are here add good flavor, to bring love and joy to others. We are here to be “light,” to help others to see their way.

So, salt of the earth, and light of the world. That’s who we are. We are born, my dear brothers and sisters, to make a difference.

And again, I think it’s important to remember: it’s not about us. It’s about the world, it’s about our brothers and sisters — it’s about everybody else.

Because Jesus wants his love, his salvation to reach every human heart. He gave his Church the mission to proclaim him to the whole world, to the ends of the earth.

So, you and I have an essential part of that mission.

He is sending us out to be the salt of the earth. He is calling us to add a “new flavor,” to “season” the things of this world with the promise of God’s love and mercy. And we need to help the people in our lives, the people we meet every day, to “taste and see that God is good.”

Jesus is also sending us to be the light of the world, to fill the world with the light of his Gospel; to share his beautiful vision for human life and human society with every person we come in contact with.

St. Paul tells us today that nothing matters “except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

So we need to keep our eyes on Jesus. Keep his words in our heart, his example always in our mind. The Scriptures tell us “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”² So, we need to always be renewing ourselves in God’s Word, in the Gospels.

We need to do everything for Jesus. Not our will, but his will. This is the way that we can be salt and light.

Jesus tells us today: “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

So Jesus is saying here that our lives should be authentic, should be transparent. That when people see us, they should “see through us.” In the light of our good deeds, in the light of our love — in that way they can see the God we love, the God we serve.

And in the first reading of today’s Mass, the prophet Isaiah tells us something similar, actually the same thing. He says that every time we perform a work of mercy, God’s light breaks into the darkness of the world.

So that is true. I was thinking that whenever I hear this passage from Isaiah, it makes me think of how different the world could be, if only we would walk in God’s ways.

The truth is that God’s love breaks in — when we share our bread with the hungry, when we shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked, when we work to bring justice to the oppressed, as the prophet Isaiah mentions, or says, in today’s first reading.

And my brothers and sisters, this the “light” that Jesus wants us to shine before others. The light of love, the light of compassion.

So today, let us ask for the grace to be renewed in this Eucharist, to be renewed in our mission to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Let us make a new promise this week to share Christ’s love in our homes, in our families, with the people who are closest to us.

And let’s ask Our Blessed Mother Mary to intercede for us. Let’s ask her to keep us close to her Son, and help us to carry out his purpose for our lives — to be salt and light.