Epiphany 5A (Matthew 5:13-20)

How do we carry ourselves as salt and light wherever we are? I came across two fables, one on salt and the other on light, that I would like us to reflect on. Both of these short stories are from Anthony De Mello who was a Jesuit priest. 

1. First, let’s start with salt. See ourselves as a salt doll. Yeah, having salt in us is not enough. See our whole being as salt-embodied! 

The Salt Doll

A salt doll wandered the earth seeking to understand who it truly was. One day it arrived at the edge of the sea. Fascinated, it asked, “What are you?”
The sea replied, “Come in and see.”

Tentatively, the doll stepped into the water, and as it did, it began dissolving.
“Now I know what the sea is,” it said softly.
“But you are disappearing,” the sea observed.
“Yes,” said the doll, “but now I know who I truly am.”

My comment: Jesus calls his followers salt—not for preservation of rules, but as a self-giving presence that dissolves into love. The salt doll surpasses the Pharisees not by stricter law-keeping, but by surrendering the self to a deeper reality of grace.

2. Where do we find the light within us? I have been inviting all of us into the practices that cultivate it: silent prayer, contemplation, and a long, loving look at the Divine within.

The Teacher and the Disciples 

A teacher once told his disciples that holiness lay in awareness.
One disciple protested: “But we fast, we pray, we keep the commandments. Isn’t that holiness?”
The teacher replied: “If you lose awareness, you become like a Pharisee. You observe everything except the one thing that gives life.”

The disciples were puzzled.
The teacher added: “When you are awake, your very presence is light. Laws help, but awareness transforms.”

My comment: inner wakefulness is what illuminates others—echoing “You are the light of the world.” This story critiques a law-keeping that is technically correct yet spiritually dormant.