PaddlingPadre

This call that Jesus makes to us to be the salt of the earth, a city on a hill, a lamp on a lampstand – this gets to the heart of our evangelizing mission as Christians. It is, you could say, integral to who we are that we radiate the light of Christ to the world, a fact which we celebrated liturgically just this last week at Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation.

But if our Christianity is to make a difference in the world, then it first has to make a difference in us. Salt, after all, is able to season food because it has a flavor to give, just as a lamp is able to illumine a room because it is itself luminous. Agere sequitur esse – action follows being, as the Latin phrase of the philosophers’ goes; you can tell what a thing is on the basis of what it does. And so, if we would be true Christians, if we would do those things that Christians do, if we would proclaim Christ crucified like St. Paul, if we would care for the homeless and the hungry as we are urged to do by Isaiah, then we must first allow Jesus to renew and remake our lives. We must, as our first priority, come to terms with the fact that we do not belong to ourselves but rather to him, and we must surrender, again and again, all that we are and all that we have to him, every moment of every day.

In other words, the faith for us cannot be something that is siloed into a particular time or a particular place. We cannot be lukewarm; we cannot be casual Christians. But instead, the life of the Triune God, made accessible to us through the Paschal mystery, must come to so dominate our being that we can so little help giving testimony to Christ as salt can keep itself from tasting salty, or as a city on a mountain can avoid being seen, or as a burning lamp can keep from shining. This call of Jesus to be the salt of earth is not, then, merely a call for us to take our faith seriously, though it is certainly that, but it is also, even more deeply, a call to be transformed into a new kind of being, a being that lives a life divine.

Now, practically, how does one do this? Essentially, what we are talking about here is growing in Christian habits, growing in Christian virtues. And the virtues, as the philosophers would also tell us, are gained by practicing them. If you would desire to grow in devotion, then, for example, you will do so by doing acts of piety – by attending mass, by spending time in quiet prayer, by reading scripture, etc. Similarly, if you would grow in charity, you will do so by making concrete efforts to forgive others and to care for others, just as a runner trains to run by running.

 And it will take effort at first. Maybe you have to force yourself to pray, maybe you have to force yourself to give. But with time, as that virtue grows within you, and as grace works on your heart, it will become easier and easier. In the meantime, what is needed is a bit of courage, a bit of perseverance, a bit of reliance on the guidance and disciplines of the Church.

Now among these disciplines of the Church, there are five precepts, which are a bit like a training plan that an athlete might receive from a coach. These are five things that we are required to do in order that we at least exercise ourselves in the minimal degree towards the attainment of that Christian virtue of which we have been speaking. They are: first, that we attend mass on Sundays and on days of precept. Second, we go to confession at least once a year. Third, that receive Holy Communion at least once a year during the Easter season. Fourth, we observe days of fasting and abstinence. And fifth, that we provide for the needs of the Church.

In line with that final precept is the Bishop’s Appeal for Ministries, which is something that, as a diocese, we do every year, and it really is so important to a number of specific diocesan-wide ministries, such as the formation of clergy, the growth of Catholic education and campus ministry, the providing of food, shelter and medical care to the needy through Catholic Charities and St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, and parish faith formation. If you haven’t already made a pledge for this year’s appeal, I invite you to raise your hand, and our ushers will bring you an envelope, one per family, and I invite you to fill those out now and during the next few minutes after the homily, in order to be able to leave the completed pledges with our ushers as you leave the church today.

Because, yes, we need your financial support to keep the lights on, and to do far more than that; the evangelizing mission of the Church takes resources. But in the midst of that real need, what I don’t want us to lose sight of is the fact that giving is a spiritual discipline that yields spiritual fruit for the one who gives; it is through such concrete moments as these that one grows in Christian virtue. And so whether you’ve already made a pledge this year, or whether you’re about to do so, what I cannot stress enough is that this is merely a part of that total call that we have to give everything, as Christ gave everything. Whether you give a little or a lot, Jesus is still the Lord of all that you have, of all that you are. And so, in that truth, each of us has the responsibility to reflect on the particular ways in which we, like Christ, are being called to offer everything back to the Father.