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[v.6] 2026-February-8, 5th Sunday of Year A, ●● Isaiah 58:7-10 ●● Psalm 112 ●● 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ●● Matthew 5:13-16 ●●
Salt,
Light, and Mercy
1. A Parish
Feast and the Way God Works
This Sunday,
as the parish of Our
Lady of Lourdes, we observe our patronal feast at Mass. The
official feast day is this Wednesday, February 11, but we celebrate it together
today as a parish family.
Because
Lourdes is not just a place on a map in France. It is a place where God shows
us how He works:
quietly, patiently, and through those the world might overlook or ignore.
And this is spirit
of today’s Gospel.
2. “You Are
the Salt… You Are the Light”
Jesus says
to His disciples:
“You are the
salt of the earth.
You are the light of the world.”
He does not
say, Try to become salt.
He does not say, Work hard
so that one day you might be light.
He says: You are.
Jesus is
giving us our identity
before He gives us any tasks.
Salt, in the
ancient world — and even today — preserves food. It protects what is good. And
salt disappears into what it touches. Light does not exist for itself. Light
exists so that others can see.
Salt
and light do not draw attention to themselves.
They point beyond
themselves.
3. The
Beatitudes and True Happiness
This Gospel
comes immediately after last Sunday’s Beatitudes.
“Blessed”
can also be translated as happy.
Happy are
the poor.
Happy are the merciful.
Happy are the humble.
Happy are those who seek peace.
God is not
placing a burden on us. He is showing us a path to a life with meaning and
direction.
This is how
God changes hearts —
not through noise,
not through self-promotion,
but through faithful commitment lived day after day.
4. Lourdes
and the Humility of Bernadette
In 1858, God
did not choose a scholar, a priest, or a person of influence. He chose Bernadette — poor,
often sick, and uneducated.
When
Bernadette spoke of her visions, she did not say, I saw the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She did not say, I saw Our
Lady of Lourdes.
She said
simply, in her own language, “I
saw a beautiful lady.” (petito damiselo)
Bernadette
did not speak polished theological language. She repeated what she was given.
She obeyed. She stayed faithful — even when she was doubted, dismissed, and
misunderstood, even by those closest to her.
That is how
God works.
Not through
spectacle.
Not through self-promotion.
But through humility.
5. Quiet
Fidelity and the Christian Measure of Greatness
Pope
Benedict XVI once wrote that what truly counts in Christianity is not greatness
imposed from the outside, but obedience
and humility before God’s word. That is what lasts.
And the
clearest example of that quiet fidelity in the Christian life is Baptism.
6. Baptism:
Identity Before Achievement
Baptism is
not dramatic.
It does not draw attention to itself.
It usually happens quietly — often when the person being baptized cannot speak
for themselves.
Yet in
Baptism, something decisive happens.
A person is
claimed by Christ.
An identity is given before anything is achieved.
A light is entrusted before it is ever fully understood.
In Baptism,
God says to us:
You
are … this.
You are salt.
You are light.
You are Mine.
Baptism —
and all the sacraments — give us direction, even when we lose our way.
7. Losing
Direction and the Call to Re-Direction
**
connection to Milano Cortina winter Olympics where athletes from all over the
world need instruction where to go
There is a real-life
story from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics that illustrates this.
A Jamaican
runner realized on the day of his race that he had taken the wrong bus and was
heading in the wrong direction. He could not fix the situation himself. So he
stopped and asked for help.
A volunteer
helped him get to the stadium on time. He warmed up. He raced. He won.
That
volunteer helped him with no expectation of medals, recognition, or media
attention.
She did not know he would win.
She did not know the story would ever be told.
It did not start out as
a headline.
And that is
often how faith — and mercy — work: quietly,
faithfully, without guarantees.
Faith often
begins with the courage to stop, listen, and choose a new direction — and with
someone willing to help without needing credit.
8. Mercy
and the Possibility of Conversion
If we are
honest, every one of us has been on the wrong bus at some point — spiritually,
morally, relationally.
Sin
(sinfulness), at its simplest, is being off target — going in the wrong
direction.
And mercy
does not pretend the mistake did not happen. Mercy does not deny the wrong that
was done. Mercy makes
turning around possible.
I can think
of moments in my own life when mercy was shown to me — moments when I was
clearly in the wrong. That mercy did not turn my wrong into a right, but it
gave me the space to take responsibility and to change.
And so we
might quietly pray:
Blessed are
those who were merciful to me, a sinner.
Blessed are those who were merciful to you, a sinner.
And blessed are you when you are merciful to those who trespass against you.
Mercy does
not deny the injury or misdirection.
Mercy does not dismiss the wrong.
But mercy believes that no one is finished — and that with God, hearts can be
changed.
9. “Are You
Lost? Come Inside.”
I once saw a
church sign that said simply:
“Are you
lost? Do you need directions?
Come inside.”
That is not
a judgment.
It is not a condemnation.
It is an invitation.
And it
sounds very much like Lourdes.
Lourdes
heals not because people are impressive, but because people are honest about
their need.
10. What It
Means to Be the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes
And that is
what we are called to be as the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes:
A place
where people do not have to pretend they have it all together.
A place where mercy preserves what is good.
A place where light is lifted up — not to glorify ourselves, but to give glory
to God.
11. Living
as Salt and Light This Week
I pray we can ask ourselves:
Where am I
being asked to be faithful?
Where might I need direction?
Who needs patience from me?
Who needs forgiveness?
Where do I need to ask for help?
Because salt
works quietly.
Light works faithfully.
And God works through humble fidelity — beginning at the baptismal font,
sustained by mercy, and guided always by His grace.
12. Closing
Prayer
Let us ask
Our Lady of Lourdes to teach us this way.
Pray for us,
O Holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for Us!
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