Every single person is entitled to a fundamental respect and concern. There is no one who is "unwanted." Everyone is called to salvation and holiness. Each person has been given a new life and this gives them new ways of seeing. Likewise, everyone should find in us the same compassionate, all-inclusive love that they would find in Jesus.
This is the only way that we can grow into becoming more fully authentic disciples, like salt in food or like light in the dark. We don't have to "become" salt and light. We "already are" salt and light. We can't deny it or hide it. Or at least we shouldn't. “Salt and light” – that’s who we are right now and that is how we should act.
We are the “salt of the earth” and our job is to season our environment with Jesus’ teaching so that the world tastes different now than it ever tasted before.
We are “the light of the world” and we must let our light fall on others, to illumine them by the good things that we do.
The world has too many areas of darkness that need our light - even though we may sometimes feel like our batteries are running out. There is so much emptiness and tastelessness in this world that needs our salt - even when we believe the shaker is empty.
Maybe that’s why the image of salt in today’s gospel is followed immediately by the image of light. Sometimes we can do big things. Sometimes we can be a city on a mountain, a lamp on a lamp stand, giving light to everything in the house. Sometimes our light can change people’s lives.
But sometimes the darkness can be overwhelming, and when we cannot be the light of the world, the Gospel tells us that it is enough just to be a pinch of salt.
Being “salt and light” in our world here and now is the core of discipleship. It means that we are to influence the world positively by reflecting Jesus' core ethic - love of neighbor. And we do this through our actions. We testify to the power of Jesus’ Gospel love by working to shape our world into a safe, compassionate and just home for everyone .
The presence of God's Spirit is most evident in the human interactions of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, sharing, working for justice and peace, respect and joy. When we see these things, we know God's Spirit is here. When we do these things, we know God's Spirit is here in us. The "good news" is that in everyday human interaction all people can encounter the sacred, the Spirit of God at work.
The prophet Isaiah tells the people of God to share their bread with the hungry, to shelter the oppressed and the homeless, to clothe the naked when they see them, and he warns them not to turn their backs on their own. Isaiah presents his own vision of God’s love - care for one another and you will receive God's care yourselves. Jesus likewise calls us to conduct our lives in ways that call attention to the presence of God within us by how we interact with others.
Being salt and light are visible examples of what this message means.
