9 February 2020
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus lived a life that was for the most part hidden, but this hiddenness was also a revelation insofar as it was a very ordinary hiddenness, and insofar as it was made known and revealed as such. The greatest life of all, the life of God, can be and is lived out in the life of Jesus Christ. Now we can say, with certainty, what God’s life looks like in a human life: Jesus Christ. This life of Christ is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Lk 2:32).
Through baptism and through each one of the sacraments, God offers us the grace of a very real sharing in the life of Jesus Christ. But if we are to truly receive the grace of sharing in the wonder and fullness of Christ’s life in our own lives, we must remember these two things about the life of Jesus Christ: (i) Jesus Christ freely chooses to live the way he does and (ii) Jesus Christ does not live for himself, but for the Father and for the redemption of all of his Father’s good creation. Jesus Christ is the man for others.
In Matthew 5:13-16, we see one of the consequences of being baptized into the life of Christ and of becoming part of the body of Christ. As Christ stands as a light to the nations, so we, too, as Christ’s body cannot hide, for we are revealed to the nations as “a city set on a mountain.” Christ’s life has been offered to us as a gift; the greatest of all gifts. We can embrace this gift or run from it, but our choice will be seen and felt by those around us. Nothing scandalizes more than a person who has been given the greatest thing, but who chooses what is most mediocre instead. But when we do live the calling that we are offered, what counts is not the lamp that we become, but the light itself, which is Christ. In this sense, we disappear into the crowd, as good salt disappears into properly seasoned food, making everything better without being the center of attention. Let us then ask for the grace to make a decision today to freely live the greatness of the life Christ offers me with all of its joys and its challenges, and to live it not for myself, but for the One who offers me this life, and the people around me for whom God invites me to give myself in Christ.