Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
June 8, 2021
Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 360
Reading I
Brothers and sisters:
As God is faithful, our word to you is not “yes” and “no.”
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us,
Silvanus and Timothy and me,
was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes” has been in him.
For however many are the promises of God, their Yes is in him;
therefore, the Amen from us also goes through him to God for glory.
But the one who gives us security with you in Christ
and who anointed us is God;
he has also put his seal upon us
and given the Spirit in our hearts as a first installment.
Responsorial Psalm
119:129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135
R. (135a) Lord, let your face shine on me.
Wonderful are your decrees;
therefore I observe them.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
The revelation of your words sheds light,
gives understanding to the simple.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
I gasp with open mouth
in my yearning for your commands.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Turn to me in pity
as you turn to those who love your name.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Steady my footsteps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity rule over me.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Let your countenance shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
R. Lord, let your face shine on me.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let your light shine before others
that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Reflection: HIDE ONE'S OWN PERSONALITY TO BE A WITNESS
Jesus's parables and teachings were shockingly simple, or if you like, annoyingly common. Who does not know that salt is important for taste and if salt itself is tasteless it be useless? Who does not know that light is so universally important and that a city built on a hill side cannot be hidden? You take anything that Jesus taught. They were extremely simple, understandable even to the dullest man on the street! How is it that they were not acceptable to the learned and the wise? For us too, the simplest and the most obvious truths are often those which we never see or accept. Salt and Light have another very important quality. Both, in order to make themselves useful, go into hiding! We do not see the salt in the food. Strange as it might seem, we do not see light itself. We only see things because of the presence of light. In other words, light hides itself in making other objects visible! Jesus chose these two symbols well. The disciple is supposed to give meaning to human existence, by providing the salt and the light of the Gospel to others, and hiding his own personality. The personality of the evangelizer should not be a hindrance to evangelization. If salt remains visibly in the food, it destroys the taste. And if light remains visibly as fire, it destroys the objects it illuminates. So, the call to be salt and light is a call simultaneously to sacrifice oneself and empower others.