{"id":6198,"date":"2017-02-05T08:27:14","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T16:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lubukhati.org\/?p=6198"},"modified":"2017-02-05T08:27:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-05T16:27:14","slug":"why-salt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/?p=6198","title":{"rendered":"Why Salt?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time<\/span><\/div>\n
February 5, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n
Matthew 5:13-16<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cYou are the salt of the earth\u2026 (Mat 5:13)\u201d<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth. We note that He does not say we are \u2018like\u2019 the salt of the earth. In literature, we learn that the former is called a metaphor and the latter is a simile. The two sentences look similar, but actually, the difference is significant. Take note of the difference: I am Bayu and I am like Bayu.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>The two illustrate that the usage of \u2018like\u2019 makes things different considerably. One gives us an essential connection, while the other points only to an accidental relationship.<\/span><\/div>\n
Jesus sees that being the salt of the earth is not merely accessory, but essential and defining to the identity and mission of His disciples.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>Like I cannot be Bayu in the morning and be John in the evening, so we cannot be salt on weekdays and be sugar in weekends. We are salt every second of our lives. This is what we call a vocation. Being salt is our vocation.<\/span><\/div>\n
Ordinarily, salt is for seasoning. We hate it if the food is too salty, but we hate more if the food is tasteless. Once at our Lenten observance in my minor seminary, we ate salt-less food, and the taste was truly awful. Yet, since we were hungry, we still consumed the food. That was the moment I appreciated the importance of salt. Being salt, we are to make the difference in the world with our good deeds, yet not \u2018too salty\u2019 that we simply draw the attentions to ourselves. Again, we do good all the time, not only when others are looking at us, not only when we feel good and motivated, not only when we expect a reward.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span>A good mother will not do good to her children only Monday to Friday. Nor a good father will only raise his potentially successful children and abandon the rest.<\/span><\/div>\n
However, we may ask a deeper question: why does it have to be salt? We are well aware that aside for spicing up, salt has practically no nutritional values. Even some scientists link excess salt to health problems like high blood pressure. Why not something more substantial like rice, pasta, or noodles? The answer may be simple: it is not our vocation to become the true source of sustenance and nourishment. It belongs to Jesus. That is in the Gospel of John, Jesus called Himself as the Bread of Life (Jn 6:35). In the Philippines, we have this popular bread called \u2018pandesal\u2019 (literally means bread of salt). It is a small bread made of flour, yeast, egg, sugar and salt, a bit sweet rather than salty. The amount of salt is insignificant, and yet it enhances the taste of the bread, makes it pleasurable to our senses. Yet again, salt is not the real thing, but the bread.<\/span><\/div>\n
As salt, it is not us who give the fullness of life, but our vocation is to bring Jesus to others so that they may have the life. Our goodness, our achievement, our ministries are not to draw praise to ourselves, but through our good deeds others may feel God even more. That is who we are: Salt.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Br. Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time February 5, 2017 Matthew 5:13-16 \u00a0 \u201cYou are the salt of the earth\u2026 (Mat 5:13)\u201d \u00a0 Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth. We note that He does not say we are \u2018like\u2019 the salt of the earth. In literature, we learn that the former is called a metaphor and the latter is a simile. The two sentences look similar, but actually, the difference is significant. Take note of the…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6199,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6198\/revisions\/6199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}