To the Band of Brothers: Salt of the Earth
Good morning!
Now that the mayhem of our Tombola week has subsided, I find there is a little more time to get back to our Band of Brothers emails. I apologize for the drought, but my brain was focused elsewhere. I realize the older I get, the less my gray matter is able to juggle more than one thing at a time. Actually, it’s not as if my juggling skills were that much better when I was younger, but they have definitely taken a hit.
At Mass this Sunday, we were treated to a beautiful gospel reading (Matthew 5:13-16). It comes at the heels of last Sunday’s reading of the beatitudes (vs. 1-12). Continuing with the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus goes on to describe what the vocation of the Christian disciple is all about. In verses 13 and 14, he uses similes claiming we are the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.”
What does he mean? In this edition of the Band of Brothers, let’s take a closer look at what specifically “salt of the earth” is all about.
To better understand Jesus’s choice of salt as a metaphor, it is important to understand the context. Salt has taken a bit of a hit in our modern world. The mineral is not as appreciated today as it was in the past. In part, because it is so accessible. Walk into any grocery store today and you find shelves filled with the stuff. Morton and Lawry’s, iodized and non-iodized, pink, white, Celtic Sea, Baja Gold, flavored, kosher… you name it, they have it. Also, it didn’t help that back in the 70s, doctors warned us too much salt can do a number on your blood pressure.
But during Jesus' time, salt was a rare and valuable commodity. That grainy white substance was as good as gold. As a matter of fact, salt was so valuable, the Roman Empire would pay its soldiers in salt instead of money. It’s how we got the word “salary,” from the word “sal,” the Latin for “salt.” And why was it so valuable? Without our modern refrigeration technology, they needed to use salt to keep food from spoiling. It’s the reason your parents can buy a leg of jamón serrano at Cosco for $99 and keep it in the box for years without it spoiling. It is drenched in salt.
If salt has this amazing ability to keep things from going bad, then Jesus’s reference makes sense. As Christians, we are called to help keep the world from going bad. When the disciple of Jesus stands up for the dignity of the human person from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, or serves a meal at a homeless shelter, or visits the sick or imprisoned, or builds an aqueduct in the mountains of the Dominican Republic, he is helping to keep the world from spoiling.
Another great quality of salt is its ability to enhance the flavor of food. When my grandfather cooked his arroz con pollo on Sundays for the family to enjoy, he always added the right amount of salt to enrich the flavor of the rice and chicken. No salt meant the ingredients combined together would be dull and not reach their fullest, tastiest potential. If Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, he means our presence in the world has the ability to enhance its inherent goodness.
Here’s something else. Salt makes you thirsty. When the Jesuits got together on Sunday night to watch the Super Bowl, we ordered a couple of pizzas. The only thing that made watching the Patriots lose better was eating pizza. As I chomped away at those slices of pepperoni goodness, I couldn’t help but take a few gulps of water (and maybe a beer) to quench my thirst. It’s true with anything salty. So too with the Christian. Like salt, we should leave the world thirsting for what drives us.
I remember a few years back reading about a Polish Jew who had converted to Catholicism. He told the story of when he and his family fled Poland at the outbreak of World War II. As he stood on the runway in Warsaw, waiting to board his flight, he noticed a plane that had arrived. Off the plane he witnessed several nuns who made their way down the ramp. He wondered what could have possibly motivated these women to make their way into the mouth of the lion. He later realized their witness had left him thirsting for what had given them such courage and determination.
To keep the world from spoiling, enhancing its inherent goodness, and leaving it thirsting for Jesus is what being a disciple is all about. Whether young or old, a doctor or lawyer, a priest or parent, we are called to be salt of the earth and, thus, carry on the mission of Jesus Christ.
Auspice Maria,
Fr. Willie ‘87
Fr. Willie ‘87
BELEN JESUIT PREPARATORY SCHOOL
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
500 SW 127th Avenue, Miami, FL 33184
phone: 305.223.8600 | fax: 305.227.2565 | email: communications@belenjesuit.org
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba, by Queen Isabel II of Spain. The task of educating students was assigned to the priests and brothers of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), whose teaching tradition is synonymous with academic excellence and spiritual discipline. In 1961, the new political regime of Cuba confiscated the school's property and expelled the Jesuit faculty. The School was re-established in Miami the same year, and over the next decade, continued to grow. Today, Belen Jesuit is situated on a 34-acre site in western Dade County, just minutes away from downtown Miami.