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Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There was a unique, almost strange, practice in some of the early Christian churches.
If someone was expelled from the faith community because of a moral issue, or if the person left the faith willingly, before being accepted back, that person would have to lay on the floor at the church’s entrance and say to the other members who entered:
“Trample upon me who was the salt which lost its flavor.”
Such a humbling practice – being trampled upon – was derived from Jesus words in today’s Gospel.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses its taste, it is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”
Perhaps these Christians took the Gospel too literally, though it certainly made a point! Salt is only good if it retains its flavor. Similarly, Christians can only build up the kingdom of God if they retain the “saltiness” of their faith.
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Just as salt flavors everything it touches, in what ways does my faith “flavor” those around me?
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“Trample upon me who was the salt who lost its flavor.”
May those words never be said of us.
Rather, be a “salty” Christian, the light of the world.
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Image credits: (1) Lifeword (2) Dreamstime.com (3) LetterPile