We are salt and light

As authentic disciples of Christ, we are to live in word and deed what he calls us in today’s Gospel message: “You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world…. (Mt. 5:13-16). What a privileged mission this is, as well as a tough responsibility. To love God and neighbor without counting the cost, maximizing the time, talents, and treasures that each one of us receives from God. Jesus came to be one among us and by his own life showed us the way to be salt and light of the world. This is how much he loves us. What he was and did is what he is asking us to be and do. This is what will divinize us and lead us to be one with God, our abba Father, our unconditional Lover. Our continuing awareness of God’s never-ending love for each one of us is what will motivate us to love him and all that he loves in return. God the Holy Spirit is our constant companion no less – through thick and thin, through joy and pain, through success and failure, until death leads us to eternal life. This is how much God loves each one of us.

Since each one of us was created as a unique person, you can imagine the richness and variety of salts and lights all over the world. In spite of the many who turn their backs and refuse to be salt and light according to Jesus’ call, there are many more who are. From the well-known to the unknown. From the educated to the uneducated. From one country to another, all over the world. Let me just single out a few, from the known to the unknown.

First, let me focus once again on our newly-elected Pope Francis. His words and actions are no less than salt and light to many of us. His simple lifestyle and compassion for the poor are very inspiring indeed. His breaking through institutional barriers is an example that we should all follow. As he expressed in our recent Catholic World Peace Day: “We all have a responsibility to act so that the world may be a community of brothers who respect each other, who accept their diversity and who take care of one another.”

Another well-known icon of salt and light is Nelson Mandela, who passed away recently at the age of 95. He fearlessly worked for a non-apartheid, nonracial South Africa for which he was imprisoned for no less than 27 years. Upon his release in 1990, his statement was not one of revenge or anger, but of reconciliation and peace, and we quote: “Today the majority of South Africans, black and white, recognize that apartheid has no future. It has to be ended by our own decisive mass action in order to build peace and security.” In 1994, Mandela became president by winning South Africa’s first non-racial elections. During his years of presidency, his Christian faith was actively alive. Yes, he was both salt and light.

Coming closer to home, I want to focus on the peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, the government’s chief negotiator said:  “We have crossed the barrier . . . . We have reached a point where. . . a lot of breakthroughs were reached and barriers crossed, like sitting together.” On his part, the MILF chief negotiator, Mohagher Iqbal said: “In the negotiations, nothing is personal. We are hard on issues but soft on people. Nothing personal.” They are succeeding as salt and light for the glory of the one and only God of all mankind.

How about the graduates of our Center for Family Ministries (CEFAM) who are now involved in the counseling ministry for individuals, couples, and families? With their compassionate hearts and counseling skills, they are no less than salt and light to the troubled persons who come to them for help. A number of them recently went to Tacloban to help the victims of the super typhoon Yolanda. Quite a number needed crisis counseling and stress debriefing.

Lastly but not least, allow me to single out a very special couple, Toto and Baby Malvar, my close friends and lay associates in the ministry for the past many years. In the early nineties, after prayerful discernment, Toto resigned from his high-paying job in the corporate world and invested his time and money in a re-forestation project of about a thousand hectares at Mr. Puro, Kalawis, in the mountains of Antipolo. The area had been de-forested by the native tribes as a source of their livelihood, mostly charcoal-making. If not re-forested, the de-forestation of Mt. Puro would cause dangerous floods, not only in Marikina, but in Metro-Manila as well. The Malvars dedicated themselves to a change of life and lifestyle that was no less than heroic, for the sake of their country and countrymen. They hired the very tribes who had cut down the trees in the past to plant new ones. They organized community development work with the Dumagat tribes and others. It was very challenging indeed, but in time they were able to put up the Bayanihan Sa Kabuhayan (BSK) and each member puts in P5.00 a day. They also have Pulong at Dasal, a prayer meeting that sustains and deepens their spiritual lives.

What an inspiring ministry of salt and light. Amen.