5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

To The Disciples of Jesus in Epiphany 

Formed by the Beatitudes, Disciples are Sent: To be Salt and Light for the Life of the World 

(Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Mathew 5: 13-16, 08 February 2026) 

These Sundays the liturgy offers us the so-called Sermon on the Mount, in the Gospel of Matthew. After presenting the Beatitudes last Sunday, today [Matthew] emphasizes Jesus’ words describing his disciples’ mission in the world. (Mathew 5:13-16). He uses the metaphors of salt and light, and his words are directed to the disciples of every age, therefore also to us. (Pope Francis, Angelus 2017) 

Beloved Brothers and Sisters, Over these Sundays, the Church places us on the mountainside with Jesus, listening to what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Last Sunday, the Beatitudes were proclaimed—not as ideals for the few, but as a description of a life shaped by God. Today, the Gospel moves us forward. Those who have been formed by the Beatitudes are now sent. The movement is clear: blessing becomes vocation; interior conversion becomes public witness. The Beatitudes do not end in admiration. They generate a mission. 

The Power of the Unnoticed Light-A hospital chaplain once spoke about a nurse who worked the night shift in a busy intensive care unit. She was not particularly outspoken about her faith, nor did she ever preach to patients or colleagues. Yet something about her presence was different. She listened patiently, spoke gently, and never treated anyone as a problem to be solved. 

One night, a grieving family member asked her quietly: Why is it that when you walk into the room, everything feels a little less heavy? The nurse paused and simply said: I try to leave things better than I found them. After the woman walked away, the chaplain later reflected: that is what salt does, and that is how light shines. It does not announce itself. It transforms the space simply by being there. 

Salt: The Hidden Power of Meaning-Jesus first calls his disciples salt of the earth. Salt does not exist for itself. It disappears into what it seasons. Its power lies precisely in its hiddenness. Without salt, food may still look appealing—but it lacks depth, savor, and life. To be salt is to give meaning from within. The disciple does not impose, dominate, or draw attention to self. Instead, the disciple preserves what is good, prevents decay, and draws out what is already present but fragile. A world wounded by cynicism, violence, and exhaustion does not primarily need louder voices—it needs lives that quietly prevent despair from spoiling hope. When salt loses its taste, Jesus warns, it becomes useless. This happens when faith is reduced to habit, when discipleship is lived without interior conversion, when Christianity becomes a label rather than a way of life. Salt that no longer tastes like the Beatitudes no longer heals the world. 

Light: Truth That Refuses to Hide-Jesus then calls his disciples light of the world. Unlike salt, light is visible. It cannot remain private. Light does not argue; it reveals. It allows reality to be seen as it truly is. Yet Jesus is careful: the disciple is not the source of the light. We do not manufacture truth; we reflect it. The light shines not to glorify the lamp, but to illuminate the house so that others may live. When faith becomes self-referential, it blinds. When it becomes performative, it dazzles but does not guide. True Christian light is humble, steady, and life-giving. The disciple does not hide the lamp—not because of pride, but because love cannot remain concealed. 

The Beatitudes as the Interior Logic of Mission-Salt and light are not additional tasks added to the Beatitudes; they are their consequence. Only the poor in spirit can season the world without possessing it. Only the meek can shine without burning others. Only those who hunger for righteousness can illuminate injustice without hatred. Only the merciful can reveal God without fear. Mission, then, is not activism. It is visibility of a transformed life. The Church does not evangelize primarily by strategies, but by coherence between what she proclaims and what she lives. 

A World That Is Waiting-Jesus speaks these words not to a powerful elite, but to ordinary disciples. And yet He entrusts them with the life of the world. This is both an honor and a responsibility. A tasteless Church offers no nourishment. A hidden Church leaves the world in darkness. 

Today’s Gospel asks us a quiet but demanding question: Does my life add flavor to the world—or has it blended in? Does my faith illuminate others—or have I hidden it out of fear, comfort, or fatigue? 

Sent, Not Withdrawn-To be salt and light does not mean withdrawing from the world, nor blending uncritically into it. It means inhabiting the world with a different interior logic—the logic of the Beatitudes. Formed by Christ, the disciple is sent into homes, workplaces, parishes, and public life so that God’s goodness may become tangible. Jesus concludes: That they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. The final goal is never ourselves. It is always communion—God glorified, humanity renewed. 

Cumulative Summary- Formed by the Sermon on the Mount, disciples are shaped inwardly by the Beatitudes before being sent outward in mission. Jesus calls His followers to be salt that gives meaning, preserves hope, and heals the world quietly from within, and light that reveals truth through lives visibly transformed by grace. 

When faith becomes mere habit without conversion, salt loses its taste; when belief is hidden out of fear or comfort, light is obscured. Salt and light are not strategies or performances but the natural fruit of hearts formed by Christ. Christian mission, therefore, is not activism but the coherence of a life lived according to the Beatitudes. Only a Church that tastes of the Gospel and shines with humble fidelity can nourish, guide, and renew the world, so that all may give glory to the Father in heaven. 

Concluding Words: A Quiet Radiance-Jesus proclaims to all who wish to follow him that they are to be light to the world, and salt of the earth. These are powerful images, as powerful today as they were when Christ first proclaimed them. For disciples of every time and place, these images are not mere ego boosters. No, they are a constant challenge to dare to become for God and others that which Jesus was, himself, so clearly willing to be. 

To be a light to the world is to illumine others with God’s truth and mercy. Likewise, that same light must expose the sins of pride, envy, meanness, indifference, injustice and anything else that blinds us from the divine truth and mercy that Christ has gained for us. Insofar as sin is anything that makes it more difficult to see in ourselves and one another the light and love of Jesus Christ, exposing such sin not only frees us from darkness but also better enables us to do all that is good and life-giving. 

To be salt is to accept that fact that our efforts – or lack thereof – to follow Christ do have an impact upon others, regardless of whether we are always aware of that impact or not. There are times in our lives when we lose our taste for God and/or the things of God: more frequently than not this is displayed by our own feelings of inadequacy and/or indifference when it comes to practicing virtue. 

We all have our moments when we are tempted to believe that our day- to-day efforts at following Christ simply don’t make a positive difference in the lives of others, let alone in God’s overall plan for salvation. Unlike salt, however, we can regain that taste for doing what is righteous and good through prayer, the sacraments and, perhaps most practically, by doubling – even tripling – our efforts at practicing those very virtues that we are tempted to cease pursuing. 

Formed by the Beatitudes, disciples are sent—not to dominate history, but to save it from losing its meaning. Not to blind the world with brilliance, but to offer a quiet radiance that guides, warms, and heals. 

Dear Epiphany, may our lives taste of the Gospel. May our faith shine without fear. And may the world, encountering us, discover not us—but the Father who is nearby. 

Fraternally, 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor