Saints + Scripture

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Tuesday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time (Tempus per annum, "time through the year"): Wikipedia-link.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Tuesday of the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time
The Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter one, verses eighteen thru twenty-two;
Psalm One Hundred Nineteen (R/. one hundred thirty-five[a]), verses one hundred twenty-nine, one hundred thirty, one hundred thirty-one, one hundred thirty-two, one hundred thirty-three, & one hundred thirty-five;
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter five, verses thirteen thru sixteen.

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the images of salt and light to show how we are to bring salvation to the world. In our rather privatized and individualistic culture, we tend naturally to think of religion as something for ourselves designed to make our lives richer or better. Now there is a sense in which that is true, but on the biblical reading, religiosity is like salt, light, and an elevated city: it is meant not for oneself but for others.

Perhaps we can bring these two together by saying that we find salvation for ourselves precisely in the measure that we bring God’s life to others. The point is that we followers of Jesus are meant to be salt, which effectively preserves and enhances what is best in the society around us. We effectively undermine what is dysfunctional in the surrounding culture.

We are also light by which people around us come to see what is worth seeing. By the very quality and integrity of our lives, we shed light, illuminating what is beautiful and revealing what is ugly. The clear implication is that, without vibrant Christians, the world is a much worse place.

Video reflection by Father Conrad Stachowiak (U. S. C. of Catholic Bishops): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Rob Corzine (St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology): Daily Reflection.

Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Easter Reflection.