The salt of the earth

Good morning, happy Monday and blessings.
 
In the Gospel of Matthew 5:13-20, Jesus has a lot to say about salt and the importance of salt being salt and not something else, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything but is thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Well, what does that mean?
 
First, it’s important to remember that Jesus is talking to his disciples: it’s these folks that he is describing as the salt of the earth. That is good and bad news for them, and therefore us. We see that Jesus has a vision in mind, a standard by which we disciples should be in the world. We are meant to be the salt of the earth, a sort of leaven or spice for the world. It’s interesting that Jesus uses this metaphor of salt.
 
For too long Christians have been the people who want to quit the earth, to escape into an abstract spiritual existence. But here we see that Jesus would have his followers deeply engage with the world, indeed, to act as a spice that enlivens all the rest. With this spice, the world feels things more deeply, the highs are higher, the lows are lower. With this spice of Jesus’ disciples, the world feels, thinks, and acts more profoundly.
 
Now, before all this, Jesus says that we are the salt. The key word here is are. He doesn’t say, “You will someday be the salt of the earth,” or “Continue to work at becoming the salt of the earth,” no, “You are, the salt of the earth.” For Jesus, we disciples are indeed already the salt of the earth, this is a spiritual reality, we are already the salt of the earth, it is a state of being that is already in place. Remember, we were called to give flavor to this earth by presenting the salvific liberation project of Jesus.We are this salt of the earth, if you don’t believe me, ask Jesus.
 
Blessings
 
Fr. Luis+