7th TUESDAY WEEK 10 YEAR II

1. I kings 17: 7-16

2. Gospel ;Mt 5: 13-16

                        " You are the salt of the earth"

There was a preacher who was called suddenly out of his parish, thus he asked the new youth minister to conduct services on Sunday. When he returned, he asked his wife how the young man had done. " Not so well," she reported. " It was the poorest sermon I had ever heard, nothing to it at all." Meeting the youth minister later, the preacher asked him how he had managed. " Pretty good, I guess,"replied the young man. " As I did not have time to prepare anything myself, I just used one of your sermons."

We cannot simply parrot the words of God. They have to be backed by good works. Just like salt that is tasteless, the words of God remain meaningless when one cannot show good deeds as testimonies. Christian participation is essential to show God's words as operative and effective. Without active participation, we also invite disaster because we do not fulfill our role as the ' salt of the earth' which bring purity to life and as well as an ' antiseptic power' to life's excesses

Jesus in our today's gospel tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth. What does Jesus'statement to his disciples imply? He does not tell his disciples that they may easily melt when water comes. The message of Jesus to his disciples and to us all Christians is that as salt preserves food from corruption, likewise Christians are meant by God to preserve this world from corruption.

Let us also understand that salt also gives taste to food and improves our appetite. Without salt food is tasteless. Christians are to give flavor to the world, make it desirable to live in ( make it the best place to live) by their way of life, as described in the beatitudes. Salt heals wounds. Christians are meant to be a healing force for people's wounds brought about by sin.