“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men. You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”
After giving His people difficult commandments, Jesus in His sublime gentleness gives encouragement, that they may not be dismayed. These things I tell you to do, He says, are for the salvation of the whole world. By being adorned with these qualities, you keep the world from corruption. Your love keeps the rot of worldly life from setting in to others, your words keep others from falling into spiritual decay, and you flavor the world with goodness. This comes with the caution, however, that without love in your heart, that is, if you lose your savor, what is your purpose? Doing spiritual exercises and works of charity are good, but there is no action that says that love is present, it is in the heart that does it. St. Paul emphasizes this: “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). All your work is imperfect, a little clay bowl made by a child for your Abba or Mother Mary, and when you do these things without love, without giving them a joyful gift because you want them to be happy, what is the profit? One act of love in you when you are on fire with love is of greater profit than all the actions you do without it, with Jesus here saying that what is done without love is to be thrown out and counted as nothing. It is beneath your humanity, made for love, to simply work: “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting, which the Son of man will give you” (John 6:27). Put love into all you do, hide your cross with flowers, be a seasoning of love and joy in your every encounter and action, for what lacks this is to be trodden on beneath you. You are the light of the world! You are the light of His world! “Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee” (Isaias 60:1). You have been filled with light, that you may be a lantern to all that you meet. Light shines wherever it goes, and so too does love, it shines through without stopping, that everyone who encounters it may be illuminated by it. Dispel the darkness that wraps this world by an abundance of love, be so madly in love that those who encounter you ask: “What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women?” (Song 5:9). Let nothing overshadow you, let nothing bother you. God never changes, and His love for you is unfathomable, and so He tells you not to let anything stifle love: “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. Extinguish not the spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19). You have been given an extraordinary dignity to be salt and light, existing for the benefit of others, that they may love through your love: “For the Son of man also is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many” (Mark 10:45). Bring the great love story to others, by prayer, speech, good work, an upright life, zeal, all that it takes to bring your Beloved to others: “I became all things to all men, that I might save all” (1 Corinthians 9:22). God is infinite love, mercy, and compassion, expressed to you through His Son. He is an infinity of goodness, geared entirely towards you. So too must you be: “He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6), that is, with love, forgiveness, kindness unbounded, endless, and pure. Let the light of your love shine constantly and bright, falling ever more deeply in love with the God that is love, that all may see your love and be drawn in after you like something near a thundering river. “Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged” (Isaias 60:4-5). Let your love never lose its savor nor be hidden by anything, but let it burst forth and enrich the earth: “He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).