Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily Video

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Homily Transcript

Going through my neighborhood in my parish in Holy Rosary parish in Chicago, I’ve come across an interesting phenomenon that there’s more and more stores that sell light bulbs. There’s different stores and various stores that sell different types of light bulbs, different varied sizes and shapes, contemporary in some of the modern lights, with even the lights that illuminate from our phones are geared so that they’re not so taxing upon our eyes. We think about the image of light in the significance that we could think about it and reflect on the importance of light all the time. So we can see why Jesus would use that image. Of course, he is the light of the world. But in today’s gospel, he uses the image of light and salt. And it’s interesting that is he says that you are the light of the world, the salt of the earth. We could see that salt of course, is the image that’s used for taste in food, but also for preservation. So that’s very fitting. So one of the things that we need to preserve is Christ’s light. How do we let that light shine in us in this new year? How do we reflect His light? Well, then that seen very clearly in the manner in which we live with the Lord God in our relationship to one another, especially in serving others. So we can see that in the first reading, it’s very clear what that light of Christ looks like in our lives. As the Prophet tells us, as we hear from Isaiah, he says, If you remove from your myths, oppression, false accusation, malicious speech, if you bestow your bread on the hungry, satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you in the darkness and the gloom shall become for you like a mid day. How important that is. When we are in right relationship to one another, especially to those for whom we have to care for, for those for whom call to us and want the light of Christ reflected in our lives, with good news is that, once we share that good news that light it shines forth in the lives of others. Let’s stand our Lord Jesus in luminous us, light us, help us to be that city on a hill, help us to be that light shining in the darkness.

Readings

First Reading:

Isaiah 58:7-10

Second Reading:

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Gospel:

Matthew 5:13-16

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