Gospel Reading: Mt 5:13-16
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Reflection
TO GOD BELONGS THE GLORY
Jesus often instructs his followers not to publicize the good they have done; it is better to keep such things in secret that their Father may reward them.
In the Gospel, he says that there is really nothing wrong in revealing their good deeds provided that his Father gets the glory. This revelation of their good deeds as the glory of the Father will make them “light for others.”
We may do good but not become agents of light if we arrogate the glory. That is why it is good to examine our motivation even when we participate in activities that we believe are God- and other-oriented. If our intention is to gain the applause and approval of others, it means that we do not at all become light for them. In fact, we may end up showing more darkness, worse than those who do evil and do not try to hide their selfishness under the cover of goodness.
Working for the glory of God can be tricky because we, humans, may hide our real intentions. We have so many urgings and unconscious desires that are uncovered only when we honestly confront ourselves. A psychological survey made in seminaries decades ago revealed that the hidden intention of many seminarians was that they saw the priesthood as a way out of poverty. Indeed, we may make sacrifices because we hunger for the approval of others and feel good when affirmed.
When a person gives God the glory for his good actions, he becomes a vehicle of God’s presence on earth, a bastion of humility, which makes him attractive to others. People flock to him not because he does good but because in his person shines the glory of God. He becomes a “city set on a mountain” (v 14).
This explains the charm of St. Teresa of Kolkata to people; even Communists sought this elderly bent figure, because she truly reflected the glory of God. Her disinterested service for the poorest of the poor was a revelation that a human being is indeed a carrier of divine glory, provided that one dies to selfishness and pride and centers one’s life on God.
According to a legend, Francis of Assisi one day told his faithful friend Bro. Leo that they would go to the market and preach. Bro. Leo happily agreed and accompanied this “living saint.” They passed through the entrance, the byways and passages, the stalls displaying animals and selling meat, and the vegetable and fruit corners until they got out of the marketplace. Bro. Leo was surprised and asked Francis whether they would return because they had gone there to preach and all that they did was to walk through. Francis responded, “We already did. People have seen us.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.