St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We are in the fifth ordinary Sunday of year A. The first reading tells us that providing for the needs of others like feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, and embracing lowliness are the preeminent means of living a good life. Along with these physical needs, we are also called to work for the social good of others, by removing oppression from other works which harm the social fabric. How do we contribute to the building up of holier and better communities?

In the second reading we hear St. Paul highlighting the cross of Jesus Christ as the mode of ‘education’. Though Paul came from a major educational center for stoic philosophy and was well educated in pharisaic Judaism under great rabbi Gamaliel, his object of wisdom and knowledge was his teacher Jesus Christ, the crucified. Do we try to depend on our human wisdom and knowledge for our faith or rather on Christ crucified? As the disciple of Christ do we become more Christ-like by embracing the characteristics of Christ’s cross?

In the gospel our Lord uses two images, one of salt and the other of light. The purpose of salt is to add flavor and taste to food and that of light of a lamp is to shed light around where it is set. These two images are used by the Lord to describe how God has designed good human behavior to function. The ultimate purpose of upright human behavior is not to attract attention, honor or accolades to the performers, but rather to glorify God. How do we make efforts in our daily lives to be salt and light to others by our good deeds?

Fr. Aloysius Royan Anthony