Are you flavoring others?

Good News Reflection
Tuesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
June 8, 2010
Today's Saint: Medard
Pray for protectiom from natural disasters:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Medard.htm
Today's Readings:
1 Kings 18:20-39
Ps 16:1b-2ab,4,5ab,8,11
Matt 5:17-19
http://www.usccb.org/nab/060810.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_06_08.mp3
Are you flavoring others?
In today's Gospel reading, what does Jesus mean by calling us "salt"? Think about what salt does. It adds flavor to foods that lack sufficient taste.
Jesus also raises the point that if we lose our flavor, how can it be restored? The answer is: Only by letting God renew us.
As Christians, we have been made flavorful, that is to say, we have within us the fullness of the life of God's Holy Spirit. The useful Christian is one who evangelizes by adding the seasoning of Christ's love to other people's lives. But beware of trying too hard! What happens when food is over-salted? It tastes horrible. No matter how good our intentions might be, if we come on too strong, we do more harm than good.
People are much more likely to turn to Jesus if they first experience his love through us. They need to discover that he loves them just the way they are, that he is gentle but sincere when inviting them to grow, and that he serves them in their needs. We who are alive in the Holy Spirit are called to season their lives with this love.
To flavor the lives of others with Jesus' love, we have to let his light shine in us. We have to be so lit up by Christ that others cannot help but notice. The warm glow of Jesus should be what others see when they look at us. This happens when we love them unconditionally, patiently, full of kindness and caring, while not hiding our relationship with Jesus.
What obstructs the light of Christ that glows within you? If people are not meeting Jesus through us, we need to ask the Holy Spirit why. What are they seeing instead? Is it something we need to change within ourselves? As the Lord reveals the obstructions, the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist will fill us with the graces we need to stay in the light.
Additionally, Jesus says that we have to be a "city." We cannot evangelize alone. A city is a group of Christians: a parish, a family, a church organization. Being Christian means being in community. When our light is joined to the light of others, our collective glow is much more effective in revealing the love of Christ to the world. Why? Because non-believers learn that the love of Christ is real when they see us living in love with each other (see Acts 2:42-47).
Being a city is also necessary because it's how we become convinced that we ourselves are truly loved. We are the light of Christ for each other. We are his love given to each other. We are seasoning for each other. Without each other, our light dims, our flavor fades, and we become useless to the kingdom of God.
For an entire Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount, visit http://wordbytes.org/Bible/HolyLiving1.htm
© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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