5th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A

Fr. Joonbin Lim

Preached: February 8, 2026

In today’s Gospel Jesus makes a clear declaration to us: “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”

Before asking us to do anything more, this statement reveals who we already are. Salt and light are not tasks to be achieved, but identities that have been given to us. In Matthew 5:13 Jesus asks, “If salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?” The verb translated as “loses its taste” is the Greek word μωραίνω (mōrainō), which is not a word related to flavor at all. Rather, it means “to become foolish” or “to make foolish.”

When Jesus speaks of salt that has lost its taste, he is not primarily speaking about seasoning food, but using an image to describe a person who has lost the meaning and identity of his or her life and has become foolish. In other words, Jesus is asking: if a person no longer knows who they are or why they live, how can they possibly live well?

Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. Salt, when isolated and kept apart, has no purpose. It fulfills its role only when it is mixed with other things and when it dissolves. That is why we are not simply called salt, but the salt of the earth. This is not an invitation to stand apart from the world, but a call to enter into it. We are meant to live among people, to enter into their lives, and to remain within the “pot” of human experience together with others.

If a Christian says, “I am the salt of the earth,” that must also mean being ready to be thrown into that pot. Salt that stands alone, untouched, is useless. True salt mixes with other ingredients, dissolves, and yet precisely in losing itself, it preserves food from decay and gives it life. In the same way, we too protect the world from corruption only when we are willing to give ourselves within it.

The teaching about light follows the same logic. The identity of light is to shine for everyone in the house. If light refuses to fulfill its purpose and hides itself in the darkness instead, it is no longer light. At that moment, its meaning and purpose disappear, and the world is left in darkness. Light does not exist to draw attention to itself. It exists so that things can be seen, so that the world around us becomes visible. Likewise, when we are called light, it does not mean that we are meant to be the center, but that through our lives the world may be revealed as it truly is. Light exposes darkness, makes wounds visible, and shows what is needed and which choices are right. The light of the Christian, therefore, is not sentimental kindness, but a light that illuminates the world with truth and justice.

This mission has already been given to us through Baptism. At our Baptism, we received light from the Paschal candle and heard these words proclaimed: “Receive the light of Christ.”

This was not merely a symbol, but a sending forth—a call to live as people who have received the light of Christ. When we put Jesus’ teachings into practice, that light becomes comfort, hope, and joy for others. Just as light that does not shine is no light at all, faith that remains hidden cannot illuminate the world.

Brothers and sisters, just as salt must lose itself within a container in order not to lose its true flavor, so we too, as the salt of the earth, can live as authentic Christians only within the world. The world is not a place reserved for disciples alone, and if we hear Jesus’ Beatitudes without taking them to heart and living them out, the Gospel will lose its credibility.

Today’s Gospel asks us directly: Are we shining as light, or are we being covered? Are we mixing as salt, or are we remaining at a safe distance?

The reason Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world is clear: so that through us, the world may come to see God once again.

May we remember this identity and pray that our lives may proclaim the Gospel before our words ever do.

Amen.