Salt and Light in the Everyday

Gospel Reflection for Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 - Matthew 5:13-16

I don’t know about you but I sometimes find it hard to start Ordinary time after Pentecost. The joy, the fire, the movement of the Holy Spirit — it all feels so alive! And yet today’s Gospel shows us that it is ordinary moments that matter most. This is the season where growth can happen quietly. No grand feasts, no long fasts, just the quiet, steady invitation to live our faith in the rhythm of daily life.

“You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world.” Jesus speaks these words not to the powerful, or prestigious, but to ordinary disciples gathered on a hillside. Men and women who had simply chosen to follow Him. And yet, He entrusts them with a mission of eternal consequence: to preserve what is good, to share truth to a weary world, and to shine with His light in the darkness.

Salt preserves and enhances flavor. In the quiet work of parenting, caregiving, praying for others, and showing up again and again, we are preserving the goodness of God’s love in world. We are bringing out this hidden beauty in our homes, parishes and communities. We are showing, daily, that God’s love is steady, present, and available for all.

Light reveals. A kind word, a patient response, a quiet act of generosity, these are sparks of grace that light the way for others. They let other’s know they are seen, and heard. It provides hope and encouragement in a dark world, where so many feel alone. “Let your light shine before others” Jesus says, not just in big moments, but in the midst of the everyday.

It is in the ordinary, everyday moments that we can glorify the Lord with our lives and today’s Gospel reminds us that holiness often happens in those hidden moments. And Christ reminds us that the small things we do with love can season the world and scatter the darkness.

So today, wherever you find yourself, ask: Where can I bring God’s love? Where can I shine brightly, to glorify the our Heavenly Father?

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."