FIRST READING: Isaiah 58: 7-10. Thus says the Lord: "Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, cover him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afficted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday." EXPLANATION: The prophet is here telling his fellow-jews that God commands them to practice charity towards their needy neighbors. It is only by so doing, that they can prove their love and loyalty to their God and expect favors from him in return. share . . . cover him: The faithful Jew is urged by God, through his prophet, to provide the three basic necessities of life for a fellow-Jew: food, clothing and shelter. This was already commanded through Moses (Let. 19:17): "You shall love your love your neighbor as yourself, but was often forgotten, alas! That a fellow-Jew only was a neighbor necessitated by the prohibition to mix the idolatrous nations.
light . . . healing: If they practice true charity their hope for the future, namely, that God will send the Messiah, will grow strong and bright; and the healing of the wound, that is, the offences to God which caused the exile (this part of Isaiah is post-exile), will be swift and sure.
righteousness . . . Lord: True charity for neighbor will prove their true loyalty to God, and God in his turn will be their light and their security. They can trust in him.
call . . . answer: Then their prayers and their other religious practices will be answered by God.
take . . . yoke: If they cease to oppose their weaker neighbors.
pointing . . . wickedness: "The pointing finger" is better translated as "the clenched fist" (J.B.) or "oppression" (CCD New American version); it means the same as the word "yoke."
speaking wickedness: cursing and abusing their neighbors.
pour. . . out: If they undertake charitable works, with a sincere heart, they can look forward to a bright and happy future. APPLICATION: Charity, true love of neighbor which produces good deeds of kindness, is equated with love of God, by Christ himself (Mt. 22:39), and is the proof of one's true love for God, according to St. John (1 Jn. 4: 20). All our protestations that we love God, and all our devotions and prayers are not only useless, but are lies to God, if we hate one of our neighbors or refuse to help a needy one, when we are able to do so. This is a truth that should make us all stop and think. We may wonder sometimes, if God has forgotten us when all the prayers something we need so badly, are left unanswered. Perhaps it's for because we have been liars to God's face, or have professed that we loved him and trusted in his goodness while we hated one his children--our neighbor. It is true, there are so many calls on our charity today. So many are in dire need at home an abroad, that we can grow tired of sharing our bread or our clothes. But God does not expect, or demand of us, to help everybody, but only as many as we can. However, the obligation of forgiving a neighbor who has offended us, or of ridding ourselves of any racial, color or religious bias, which we hold , costs us only a wee bit of personal pride. Are we so important that nobody should dare ever offend us, or rather do we act as if an offense were meant? Nearly always a friendly word from the one who was offended, or who thought that he was offended, will put the record straight and mutual charity will be restored. Are we so superior because of our color, or our creed, that we can behave insultingly, that is uncharitably, towards a neighbor who hasn't got these same gifts that we have the good fortune to possess? Charity begins at home, but it must not end there. Be peaceful, forgiving, cheerful, helpful in the home and you will find how quickly the other members of the family will react and begin to imitate you. Outside of the home our nearest neighbors must be the first to feel the warmth of our charity. Without prying into their private affairs, which is the opposite of charity, we can easily learn, from casual conversation, if any of them are in need of some of the spiritual or corporal works of mercy. Remember this: he who loves his neighbor with a Christian love, which means that he is always ready to help any neighbor in need, is thereby proving his true love for God. Should the time come when he himself should be in need of help, he is assured of God's help, and his neighbors will not be found wanting either.
SECOND READING: I Cor. 2: 1-5. When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. EXPLANATION: On last Sunday, we heard St. Paul telling his Corinthian converts that they had not been called by God to become members of Christ's Church, because of any worldly nobility or power or wealth which they had. They were called from, what the world would call them today, the "lower classes." But they were high in God's esteem. Today, he tells them that his success among them was not due to any great gifts of body or mind which he had, or displayed. Their conversion was due not to his earthly wisdom or rhetorical powers, but to the spirit and the power of God which was made manifest among them. It is to Gods power alone that they owe their faith.
testimony of God: The divinity of Christ, proved by the Father's raising him from the dead, was the basic doctrine of the Christian faith. This was God's testimony to the truth of Christ's claims and Christ's teaching.
loftyt . . . wisdom: Paul did not convince the converts of the truth of Christianity by human wisdom or great oratory.
Christ crucified: This was the burden of his preaching. Christ was the Son of God who took human nature for our sakes, died nailed to a cross, but rose again conquering death for all of us.
with you . . . trembling: From the human point of view he felt he was a most unsuitable teacher for such a sublime message but :
the Spirit and power: What he lacked was amply compensated for by the Holy Spirit, whose gifts were showered on the church of Corinth in great abundance and variety (see I Cor. 12: 1-11).
that your faith . . . not rest: It was through the power of God, manifested in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and not through any human eloquence or powers of persuasion, that the church of Corinth was founded and spread so rapidly and so successfully. APPLICATION: The movie, "The Song of Bernadette," which gives the story of Lourdes and its miracles, begins with the following, words which are displayed across the screen: "For him who does not believe in God no explanation is possible; for him who believes in God no explanation is necessary." These words very aptly describe the lesson to be drawn from today's reading from St. Paul's first letter to his Corinthian converts. These had not become Christians, they had not changed their mode of life and their outlook on life, because of any human or earthly influence. Their conversion was due, exclusively, to the divine power which convinced them that there was a God--a God of power and majesty, but especially a God of love, who so loved mankind that he sent his divine Son on earth to bring all men to heaven. The facts of the Incamation, of Christ's life, death and resurrection were told to them by Paul, but the gift of faith which enabled them to accept these facts as objective reality and truth was given them by God. Worldly wisdom had no part in getting the Corinthians to give up their pagan life of easy morality and loose living, to take on themselves the restrictions and obligations of the Christian faith. Today, more perhaps than in any previous age in the Church's history, there are Christians who are looking for human reasons, that they think will justify them in giving up the restrictions and obligations of the faith of Christ, to return to the freedom and self-indulgence of neo-paganism. Human reasoning alone cannot give one an adequate and sufficient knowledge of God, but it does give us a basis on which God's gift of faith can solidly rest. But there no human logic, no human reasoning. Which can disprove the existence of God, or the fact that he has revealed to us sufficient knowledge of himself, to enable us to reach the end he has planned for us. It was "the power of God," and the merciful kindness of God, that brought the gift of faith to the Corinthians. Paul was but the weak, fragile vessel in which in which that gift came to them. It was the same power, and the same merciful goodness of God, which also brought the gift of faith to each one of us through fragile and weak, human vessels. We freely and gladly accepted it, when we came to the age when we were able to appreciate its value, not only for the after-life, but also for our years on earth. Our faith has been called, by the irreverent, the "opium of the people." If peace of mind, consolation in sorrow, a knowledge of whither we are going, an understanding of the meaning of suffering, as well as the explanation of true joy, can be called an "opium," then the more of that opium which this world gets the more human, as well as the more divine, it will become. May God make his gift of faith grow stronger in each one of us, so that we may learn daily more and more about the infinite love God has for us; about the humiliations the Son of God suffered in his Incarnation for our sakes, and about the great eternal future the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have prepared for us.
GOSPEL: Matthew 5: 13-16. Jesus said to his disciples, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." EXPLANATION: This is part of the Sermon on the Mount, part of which we heard last Sunday also, in the beatitudes. This Sermon. as it now appears in Matthew (5-7), was not delivered by Christ on one occasion. Matthew, as is his wont has collected here many sayings and teachings of Jesus, uttered on different occasions, and formed them into one complete unit. The Sermon, as we find it in Matthew, is a synopsis or the substance of the new dispensation---the new order of salvation which Christ established. The primacy of the interior spirit (in contrast to the external observance of the Mosaic law), detachment from the wealth and goods of this world, and a love of all men as brothers under the universal fatherhood of God, are its essential doctrines.
said . . . disciples: His disciples include not only the Apostles but all those who, among the crowds following him, were anxious to learn his message---the messianic message of salvation which they believed he had come to give.
salt of the earth: As usual, Christ uses everyday similes to bring his teaching home to his hearers. Salt was essential for preserving and savoring meat and other foods. If it ceased to have the power and the flavor of salt, it was no longer of any use. In fact, it was a deception and deceiver, and deserved to be crushed into the ground. So, also, the true Christian must become the preserver and promoter of the true religion, the true service of God on earth.
if salt . . . taste: It becomes not only useless but harmful; the man who uses it, will find his meat not only unpalatable but unfit for human consumption---it will have become putrid and decomposed. So, likewise, will be the evil effects of the lapsed Christian on his neighbors.
saltness be restored: The mineral, salt, can do nothing to bring back the natural qualities it once possessed, but the Christian, who allows the power of God to work in him, can return to his former state, provided, of course, that God so designs and that the pervert's pride will allow him to admit his error. But these are provisos nobody can presume on.
light . . . world: True Christians, living as true followers of Christ, are the light that will banish the darkness of paganism and of the external formalism of the pharisaic followers of the old law.
under a bushel: The bushel was a wooden vessel for measuring and containing grain. To light a lamp, and cover it with this container, was to render the lamp-light invisible and useless.
Let . . . shine: The Christian must not hide the faith, and the true knowledge of God and of his love for men, which he has received. It is not a gift for himself alone, but its effects must spread out to his neighbors, as the lamp's light spreads around the room.
see . . . works: It is through their truly Christian way of living, doing good to all men as the beatitudes bring out, and keeping the commandments of God, every day of their lives, that Christians can enlighten their non-Christian neighbors.
Father in heaven: The true followers of Christ will give external glory to God by their own saintly lives, and their example will bring in many others to the acknowledgement of God. They will thank this true God, who is not only their creator but their loving father. APPLICATION: No less an authority than Christ himself calls his true followers the "salt of the earth." and the "light of the world." These are titles of honor, surely, and of the greatest distinction. Christ is putting his true follower on almost a level with himself.He was the light of the world; he was the salt of the earth. He it was who gave men the knowledge of the true nature of God, as shown by the Incarnation. He it was who gave this life its flavor, who gave this life its meaning, its preservation. By his death and resurrection he took away the sting of death, and removed its eternal corruption, by the guarantee and promise of a resur rection to an eternal life. This very Christian knows, and this knowledge every Christian helps to bring to those who are ignorant of it, if he lives his life daily and sincerely. The Christian who does this, is really another Christ; he is continuing his work of salvation during his years on earth. He is the salt, of the earth and the light of the world. How many of us, can truly say that these honorable titles, which Christ gives to his followers, are given to us? In true humility, we can all say that we are far from worthy of any such honorable titles. Yet in all sincerity too, many if not the majority among us, are doing their little bit of Christ's work, in cultivating their own small comer of his vineyard. The parents who teach the Christian way of life to their children by word, and especially by example, are spreading the Christian faith. The workmen, whether in office or factory, who show that they are Christians by their honesty, charity for their fellowmen, their respect for God, and the things of God, in their speech, are spreading their Christian faith. All those who show moderation in their personal expenditures, and donate some of their savings to help their brothers, their fellowrnen who are in need, these are true disciples of Christ and are cooperating with him in bringing God's children back to their Father who is in heaven. Unlike the salt that has lost its flavor, and the light that is kept under the bushel, the Christian who has thus behaved can change his attitude, provided he is aided by God's grace which is never refused. He can become once more what he ought to be--a life-preserver for his neighbor. Life on earth is short. The demands of our Christian life may not always be easy, but we know that if we live up to them, we are other Christs. We are continuing his great work by our own good example to our neighbor, and we are giving glory to God, and are earning for ourselves the eternal light of heaven.-a092
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