That They May See Your Good Deed and Glorify Your Heavenly Father

02-08-2026Weekly ReflectionFr. Manasseh lorchir, VC

The Gospel passage this weekend is taken from the “Sermon on the Mount” that immediately follows Jesus’ proclamation of the Beatitudes, the ordinary and necessary precepts for a true Christian life. Here, Jesus used concrete images of light and salt to demonstrate that glorifying God is the purpose for which we are called and chosen to be His disciples and to be witnesses to the Gospel. Something is considered good only to the extent that it fulfills the purpose for which it exists.

A Christian is a good disciple of Jesus if he lets the light that Christ is (John 1:9) shine through him or her and becomes salt that lends a righteous taste of the world. When light shines no more and salt loses its taste, they become shadows devoid of usefulness, purpose and goodness. This is what a Christian (and I dare say the Church) risks becoming if he is no longer kind, has no compassion, becomes selfish and is not merciful.

Salt and light are well known agents of change. Apart from providing a change in taste, salt possesses purifying and preservative properties that cause the initial state of food to change when applied. At the time Jesus employed the imagery of salt to describe His disciples, the Jewish cultic priests made heavy use of it, sprinkling salt on sacrifices as a symbol of purity and as a seasoning and preservative for the sacrificial meat intended for human consumption. Thus, when Jesus declared that His disciples were “Salt of the Earth,” He simply intended them to know they were sacred agents of positive change introduced into a “tasteless” world of ungodliness, injustice and vice, in order to purify it, positively influence it and preserve the reign of God in it. However, Jesus warned that should the salt of the earth lose its taste, its distinctive character and the purpose for which it is needed, it would be fi t only to be used for traction on roads. Should individual Christians and the Church lose their propensity for goodness and love, we would simply degenerate into empty hypocrites that should best be ignored. Here we need to ask ourselves if the world is not trampling us underfoot. When the world keeps reminding the hierarchy of the Church to be true to her own moral standards, when unbelievers have to remind Catholic politicians that life begins from conception and that all people should be treated with dignity until natural death, when friends have to remind you to be there for your aged parents, when your own children draw your attention to sinful or morally unacceptable behavior, when atheists have to invite us to be charitable and kind, and when unbelievers have to literally drag us into being aware and responding to the unjust and unfair treatment of people on the fringes of life in our world and sometimes in our communities, we do not need a prophet to tell us that we have become salt that has lost its taste.

Similarly, light possesses disinfectant and preservative properties. The tiniest glimmer of light in the midst of darkness cannot go unnoticed. Our world is plagued with the darkness of sin, immorality, violence, injustice and many other evils that the Christian and the Church cannot afford to abdicate her mandate to be the sign of hope, truth and peace in a world that is yearning for light. Through faith, hope and love, the Church and indeed each individual Christian is called to be the beacon of light raised high, shining throughout the world and giving all people cause to glorify God. The Church throughout history, and in spite of her numerous failures and weaknesses, has always beamed the light of Christ to enlighten a world that is darkened by evil and violence, utilizing the instrument of Catholic hospices, hospitals, schools, universities, shelters, kitchens, and orphanages to bring hope and healing to many and to prick the consciences even of unbelievers into creating such institutions of their own. However, each of us should ask ourselves, “Am I letting the light of my personal good deeds shine before others as a witness to the Gospel, thereby inspiring people to glorify my heavenly Father”?

May the light of Christ in us never be dimmed by the distractions and persecutions of this world and may Christ continue to impart taste and purpose to our witnessing so that our actions may glorify God our Father.

Please be kind and may God bless you.

Fr. Manasseh Iorchir, VC