THE WORD
1 Kgs 17,7-16 / Mt 5,13-16
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.”
IN OTHER WORDS
For many years “Bol-anon” sailors and traders from Loay sailed their “batil” loaded with salt, dried and salted sh (ginamos, tinabal, and buwad) taking them for trade with other produce with the people of Davao’s and Agusan’s interior towns. The salty products proved valuable, for they definitely added a welcome favor to the rice, corn or cassava the people from Mindanao fed themselves with.
After weeks, even months of trading these enterprising “Bol-anons” would sail home often in the cloak of the night relying on the light of the moon or the lamps shermen carried along as these tried their luck along the shores. Safety and guidance came hand in hand, thanks to the light that broke through the dark of the night.
Jesus encourages his listeners to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” Both salt and light were highly priced then, even now. What would food be without salt, and what would break the darkness of the night without light?
Salt as well as the light of a lamp are prized not in or for themselves; rather, they are valued when they are for the good of others.
They are expendable. Salt and light of a lamp or a candlestick are transitory. They last but for a moment, and after a brief span of time they pass over to nothingness. Happily, the disciples of Jesus—though mortal as they are—have been promised eternal and blessed life after having shown their love to God and others.
Once home the “Bol-anon” sailors and traders make it a point to show their gratitude by going to their church. There—in the company of their respective families-- they pray in thanksgiving, attributing their safety and success to love from the Most Holy Trinity.
- Fr. Florencio Lagura, SVD | U. S. A.
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
