One of my favorite weekend rituals is to spend some time with the final edition of the Wall Street Journal. It usually arrives on Saturday morning and it pulls together the events of the week from around the world concerning politics, finance, entertainment, and just about everything else. Also included are intriguing editorials and reviews of movies, recipes, clothing, gadgets, cars, and books. Now I enjoy all of these things because they are well-written and thought-provoking, and btw, if I seemed a little put out a few weeks ago, its because the snowblower ate the Journal and my fun was cancelled for the weekend! So the point of my sharing all this is that you come across some really great material that might otherwise fly under the radar. For example, last year I downloaded a book that I had read about in the journal. It was a book devoted completely to the swordfish. It may sound boring but it was fantastic and like poetry and you almost couldn’t believe that someone could write so many things about a fish with a big nose! This eye-opening experience also prepared me for the book I am reading now: it is a simple title called Salt and it is a 500 page work chronicling the influence of salt throughout human history. It may sound crazy but it is a fascinating read.
For example, did you know that we have a whole host of common words that come from salt? The word “salad” originally described a dish of raw vegetables flavored with a salty brine dressing enjoyed by the Romans. Salary was a term originally describing an allowance given to Roman soldiers to buy salt. Sometime their payment was salt itself, with which they could trade for other goods. Perhaps many of you have heard the phrase, “he is worth his salt.” Other common words derived from this essential mineral are sauce, salami, sausage and saline.
We might not think too much about salt because it is so abundant and cheap. In fact, we might think of salt as a bad thing because there is often too much in our modern diet and it can cause a number of health problems. But this is a modern phenomenon. Throughout human history, salt has been a source of life, riches, and power. It is used preserve food, flavor meals, cure meats, treat ailments, and even make our roads safer. For most of human history, salt was precious, extremely valuable, and something to be desired. Every animal needs it and many wars have been fought, trying to secure this commodity.
Perhaps this brief background helps us then appreciate a little more, what Jesus is saying in the gospel when he tells his apostles, “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.”
That little salt shaker, present today in every home, was unknown in the Middle East at the time of Christ. Only the very wealthy could afford pure salt. Ordinary people had a "salt bag." The salt with all its impurities was placed in the bag, and then used in soup or other liquids for flavoring. Eventually all the salt was gone, leaving only impurities. This is what is meant in the gospel when our Lord asks, "what if the salt loses its flavor?"
Salt is a good symbol for the gift of baptismal integrity given to us by Christ. Salt itself cannot lose its flavor; but it can be used up and what remains in the salt bag, the "dregs" no longer works for flavoring food. One either has salt or one doesn't. We are either dead in our sins or alive in Christ. Once the salt is gone, a person must return to the source of the salt in order to replace it; nothing else will do. If one is to have life, one must go to its Divine source.
As people consecrated to God by baptism, we are meant to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Notice that Christ does not say that “one day you will be the salt of the earth”, no he says you ARE. Right now, where you are, no excuses. He can say this because he is willing and ready to replenish us at any time through prayer and the sacraments. With this in mind, it is time to ask: Do we really act like the salt of the earth? As apostles, are our lives having the same effect in our world? Are we a source of life to those around us? Do we provide the irreplaceable flavor of the gospel to others? Do our thoughts, words, and actions serve to heal and preserve and save from spoils of sin and sadness? Have we lived our faith so well that we are seen as a precious commodity, a resource essential to the life and well-being of others? Or, have we lost our flavor? Have we run empty in the practice of our faith, becoming like that salt bag, full of impurities and other undesirable elements?
The source of all true and lasting joy and blessing is Christ. That is easy to believe but difficult to live consistently. We turn most readily in thanks to God when things go well, when the spouse and family are happy, when everybody is healthy. But when the inevitable disappointments, tragedies, betrayals, and depressions come, do we guard the life of Christ and keep the promise of unending joy by remaining close to our Lord in the Eucharist, by faithfully attending Sunday Mass, by staying faithful to daily prayer? Anything else is a flight from Him who alone can help us to bear all burdens. Life here will sometimes lose its flavor, and someday will end. But the glorious and eternal truth is that we are salt in Christ, with Him our lives will never lose their flavor. May we enjoy this Divine Salt in our own lives and share it freely as a strength and sustenance now and forever.
