Homily: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 8, 2026

My dear brothers and sisters, in the gospel reading of today, we continue to see other aspects of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Last Sunday, we reflected on the beatitudes. This Sunday Jesus teaches on the antiseptic and illuminative roles we Christians are called to play in the society of our time with these imageries of salt and light. A popular 20th century American prelate and the broadcaster of the famous TV series; Life is Worth Living; Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once wrote a book that he titled: The Priest is not His own. In this book, Fulton J. Sheen explained that the entire life of a priest is like a victim, a living sacrifice who burns for the life of his brothers and sisters. Borrowing from Fulton Sheen and by extension, we can say that a Christian is not his or her own. This is exactly what our Lord Jesus Christ teaches in the gospel reading of today with these imageries of salt and light. As Christians, the society around us must feel and testify to the Christian in us.

Jesus says in the gospel, “you are the salt of the earth.” We know salt is a substance of some special importance. Before the advent of some modern means of preserving things, salt was the most common of all preservatives. Salt is used to preserve other substances from decay and corruption. As Christians, like salt, we are to preserve the society from decay and corruption. Also, salt is used to add flavor to food. Hardly there is any kitchen without salt. Most times, food without salt is tasteless, insipid and flavorless. A spoon of salt in pot of soup makes a whole world of difference. This is our role as Christians; we are called to make a whole world of differences to the society of our time. Christianity should be to life what salt is to food. Christianity is to lend flavor to life. When piles of snow and ice accumulate on the road and pose risk of fatal collisions, application of salt on the road melts that which is hardened and restores life to normalcy. When evil and social vices are gradually accumulating and hardening in our society, we Christians are the salt that will melt and dissolve them, restore life to normalcy and make life worth living.

Jesus went ahead to say, “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Jesus in this His statements notes one special characteristics of light, light is meant to be seen, light is not to be hidden. It is only when a light is seen that it illumines the darkness. Similarly, our Christianity is to be seen like light. Our Christianity is to be visible to everyone not only within the church but everywhere. Our Christianity should be visible the way we treat the shop assistant or the waiter at the restaurant. Whether we are at home, at the golf course, in the mall or skidding, our Christianity should be seen. Our Christianity should be manifested in the language we use, in the literature we read, in the different sites we surf at the social media. Even a toddler can easily differentiate between light and darkness. Similarly, our Christian life is to shine like light so that anybody who relates with us can easily say that the difference is clear.

Brothers and sisters, one fact of this our age is that different standards continue to be lowered. Globalization, Artificial Intelligence and some of the challenges that go with them continue to challenge the Modern times. The outcome is that different standards: standards of honesty, standards of diligence at work, moral standards continue to be lowered and different faces of moral decay, loss of the sense of sin and sense of the sacred continue to be the order of the day. We Christians like salt are the ones to preserve our society from moral decomposition. We are to be the shining light that will show the way to God and illumine the darkness of error and sin. Isaiah prophesies in the first reading of today; “is this not the fast that I choose, to lose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.” This is our role as Christians in our world. Jesus makes it clear in the gospel that uselessness brings disaster. If we lose our taste as salt, if we stop shining as light, disaster becomes the endpoint, to be thrown out and trampled upon by men.