In this gospel, Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth” and “You are the light of the world.” It’s fair to say that many of us would say we don’t feel like the salt of the earth or the light of the world. Jesus is, in fact, telling us that we are gifted and called to be salt and light for our world. He’s urging us to use those gifts to respond to that call today. We can too often tend to sit on the sidelines in the midst of darkness or injustice. It’s not easy to speak truth to power or use our voice in defense of the voiceless.
As we reflect on this gospel, we sit 10 days away from Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The first reading for today is the second half of Isaiah, chapter 58. The first and second half of Isaiah 58 are used on the Friday and Saturday after Ash Wednesday because they outline, in such prophetic language, the kind of fasting God desires.
We can read Isaiah 58 carefully as an aid to help us name the desires we have for our Lenten journey. This may be what God wants to give us during Lent. We can ask for these graces, and they can be our Lenten practices. We can ask to be renewed in this call, in our relationship with the poor, in our interaction with the most vulnerable, even in the way we advocate for those seeking justice, and in the way we discern how we will cast our vote.
We won’t let our salt lose its taste. We won’t hide our light under a bushel basket.
“Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:16
“Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your wound shall quickly be healed;
your vindication shall go before you,
and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! Isaiah 58:8-9
As a further help to entering into Lent more deeply, consider listening to these Conversations each week of Lent.
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ
Co-founder of Creighton’s Online Ministries, Retired 2025
I served at Creighton from 1996 to 2025. I served as Vice-president for Mission for three Presidents, directed the Collaborative Ministry Office and co-founded the Online Ministries website.
I loved seeing the number of faculty and staff who over the years really took up the mission as their own and made Creighton the Jesuit university it is today. I was also consoled to witness the website – a collaborative effort - touch the hearts of so many around the world.
I’m now living at St. Camillus – a Jesuit care facility in Milwaukee. Many of my days are spent dealing with my own health issues, as I carry out the mission we’ve been given, “to pray for the Church and the Society of Jesus.”
