[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, February 8, 2026, the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
This week's episode is entitled: Light for the World. And in these readings, we are reminded that we are called to always do good so that we bring light into the world… light that will shine like the dawn and drive out the darkness of evil.
As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following:
If we do the good works we are supposed to do, if we are upright and just as we are supposed to be, if we rely on the power of God rather than human wisdom as Saint Paul instructs us to do, then we should be bringing light into the world. So, why is there so little light and so much darkness?
[00:01:14] Let's begin in prayer:
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the knowledge that you give to us in Sacred Scripture. May your words dwell deeply within us; may they inform everything we say and do, so that our actions bring glory to you and light to the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[00:01:47] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures.
Our Gospel this week is from Matthew 5:13-16.
[00:01:59] [Jesus said to his disciples:] ‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.’”
This week's passage continues the Sermon on the Mount and follows Immediately after last week's passage. Jesus is still talking directly to his disciples, and he is still teaching them exactly what it means to be his disciple.
[00:03:03] Last week he taught them the Beatitudes - about what it means to be part of the kingdom and the types of attitudes and actions that will be required of them; this week he tells them they should be salt and light, explaining that they must be true to their calling - to their vocation as his followers - otherwise they are useless for the kingdom.
[00:03:36] That may seem very harsh to us, but sometimes we need to hear harsh.
[00:03:43] Certainly it's what the disciples needed to hear at the time, and it's what we need to hear today.
[00:03:50] It's interesting that the Beatitudes are found only in Matthew and Luke - although Luke's version is a bit more stark and rather than containing all blessings, is divided into blessings and curses. But this teaching about salt and light is found in all three Synoptics. And I also think it's worth mentioning that because the Sermon on the Mount is broken up into several sections for us, we tend to think that's how the disciples heard it, too… but it's not!
[00:04:29] Remember, this Sermon was one continuous teaching. Jesus didn't teach the disciples the Beatitudes and come back a week later to tell them they're supposed to be salt and light. That's how we hear it proclaimed at Sunday Mass, but it's not how Jesus initially taught it. The disciples heard it as one continuous lesson - and so should we.
[00:04:56] So, let's listen closely to what Jesus means by salt and light…
[00:05:02] “[Jesus said to his disciples:]”
[00:05:06] Notice again that Jesus is teaching his disciples directly - those who have already committed to following him. That means he's talking to us, too!
[00:05:20] And he offers his listeners two similes that they would have grasped immediately. The first is…
“You are the salt of the earth;”
[00:05:32] Salt was used in biblical times for both flavoring and preservation. Salt is, of course, one of the five basic flavors that our taste buds are specifically designed to detect, along with sweet, sour, bitter, and savory.
[00:05:51] And salt ingested in appropriate amounts, provides essential minerals necessary for the proper functioning of the human body. It helps us maintain fluid balance, it aids in digestion, and it's integral to the proper function of our nervous system and our muscles.
[00:06:13] And of course, until the 19th century, salt was the most commonly used method of food preservation… after that, refrigeration became more common, but for most of history, salt was essential to prevent food from spoiling or becoming contaminated by bacteria.
[00:06:36] Salt cannot restore what is corrupted, but it can preserve goodness.
[00:06:45] And that is what Jesus means when he tells the disciples they are the salt of the earth. Their actions can preserve goodness in the world, just as salt preserves goodness in food. Then Jesus offers a warning…
[00:07:06] “if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.”
[00:07:22] Moisture and various impurities can decrease the flavor of salt, but once lost, that flavor cannot be restored.
[00:07:33] Jesus is reminding his listeners that such impure salt is worthless.
[00:07:40] What he means, in the larger context of this teaching, is that a disciple that doesn't live the Beatitudes can be as worthless as impure salt. Then he presents his second simile…
[00:07:57] “You are the light of the world.”
[00:08:01] Light represents knowledge of and faith in God. Jewish tradition taught that Israel was to be a light to the nations - to the Gentiles.
[00:08:15] Jesus is now telling his disciples that their mission will be to bear witness to Jesus and his teachings… to spread his message… to carry their knowledge of and faith in him out - not just to the Jewish people - but to the world.
[00:08:39] Then he presents what appears to be a significantly less harsh warning…
[00:08:48] “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Jesus is alluding to Jerusalem, which sits atop Mount Zion. And what he means by that is that our actions can't be hidden… that whatever we say or do will eventually be made known to others. Then he says…
“Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”
[00:09:24] If you shop at farmers markets or roadside produce stands, you probably know what a bushel basket is… it's a common means of measuring fruits and vegetables and transporting them from farms to markets.
[00:09:40] If you shop primarily in modern grocery stores, you may not recognize bushel baskets as easily. Regardless, a bushel basket is a fairly good-sized container, large enough to cover the type of oil lamps most Jews would have used to light their homes in biblical times. And Jesus is saying that no one would be foolish enough to light a lamp, only to then hide that light where it can't be seen.
[00:10:13] Jewish households would put their lamps on some type of stand or shelf to elevate the lamp so that its light could reach further into the house.
[00:10:24] I have some photos of bushel baskets, of the types of oil lamps that would have been common in biblical times, and examples of lampstands so that you can see what Jesus is talking about.
[00:10:40] Then Jesus says…
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
[00:10:55] In other words, let your good works be an example for others. Jesus spoke those words directly to his disciples on the Mount of the Beatitudes, but he is saying the same thing to us today.
[00:11:14] When we live faithfully as his disciples, when we live the Beatitudes he taught us, when we are good, meek, upright and just, tolerant, peaceable, moral and ethical, then we give glory to him who Jesus says IS our Father in heaven… who rightly deserves all the glory we can offer.
[00:11:45] God, our Heavenly Father, freely showers us with a multitude of gifts.
[00:11:54] We do NOT have the right to hoard those gifts; we must share those gifts freely with others precisely so that more and more people can come to know and love the Father.
[00:12:15] That's what Jesus means when he says: “let your light so shine before men.”
[00:12:22] But that's not always what we do, is it?
[00:12:26] If we did, there would be a lot more light in the world and a lot less darkness. So, we have our work cut out for us.
[00:12:37] We have to make the conscious decision EVERY DAY to listen to the voice of Jesus… we have to be intentional EVERY DAY in sharing the good things we have because of God's bounty with others… we have to be deliberate in undertaking good actions EVERY DAY because those will give glory to God. And if we do all of that, we can bring light to the world.
[00:13:09] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Isaiah 58: 7-10.
“[Thus says the LORD:] [S]hare your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, cover him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh. Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday.”
[00:14:19] This Passage is from 3rd Isaiah (chapters 56 – 66), written two generations after the original historical prophet AND after the return of the exiles from Babylon.
[00:14:35] This is part of a larger passage about fasting that goes from verses 1 to 12 of chapter 58.
[00:14:44] After the return, the people were fasting in order to elicit God's mercy… to move God to pity for Jerusalem and thereby hasten the time of its full renewal and restoration. The upshot of this passage, however, is that fasting solely for the sake of fasting - solely for one's own benefit - will not reap any rewards.
[00:15:15] Fasting can only be fruitful if it benefits others. That sounds like a really good message for us to hear as we approach the season of Lent.
[00:15:30] So, let's hear from the prophet Isaiah…
[00:15:35] “[Thus says the LORD:]”
[00:15:37] Remember those words alert us to the fact that the prophet is speaking for God!
[00:15:43] “[S]hare your bread with the hungry,”
As I said, this entire passage deals with fasting but Isaiah is saying here that fasting also has to benefit others. And what better benefit can there be than to share the resources we do not consume by the act of fasting with those who are in need of those very resources?
[00:16:11] Isaiah is saying to the Israelites, when you fast, share what you have. To modern Christians, put discipleship into action!
“and bring the homeless poor into your house;”
[00:16:27] Wait… what? Did we just hear that right? In fact, yes, we did.
[00:16:34] God is reminding the people that outward observance alone isn't enough… that the minor inconvenience of a temporary fast is worthless if it doesn't bring about real and lasting change… that such hypocrisy won't atone for wickedness, especially as that wickedness is still taking place!
[00:17:04] The homeless poor were still being ignored as they are today. We may not have the resources to accommodate unhoused persons in our own homes or apartments, but we can share some of what we have with those who have less. We can help provide for their comfort, their shelter.
[00:17:33] And because we CAN, then we SHOULD.
“when you see the naked, cover him,”
[00:17:39] The message that Isaiah is presenting here is that religious observance cannot be separated from social righteousness - those two things have to go hand-in-hand.
[00:17:53] He's saying it to the people of his time, but he's saying the same thing to us.
[00:17:59] And that is a direct teaching in Christianity, isn't it? Clothing the naked is one of the Corporal Works of Mercy. In fact, many of the early Church Fathers wrote that anything a person possesses beyond what is required for their own immediate needs belongs by right to the poor, and that when we hold onto such unused items, the poor are actually being deprived of life.
[00:18:35] So, whatever we have that we no longer have a use for must be shared with those in need.
[00:18:44] Isaiah then says…
“and do not hide yourself from your own flesh.”
[00:18:51] That sounds strange and improbable, if not downright impossible, if we look just at the words as they are written. But the message is much deeper… it's really an appeal to the humanity of everyone, a reminder that all humankind should see one another as family… and that no one can ignore those who are in need.
[00:19:31] Poverty, cruelty, and oppression were rampant in Israel after the return and Isaiah is saying, that's not acceptable!
[00:19:43] That's not the way God taught us to live… look at the law, listen to the prophets… live as God intends us to live.
[00:19:54] Those words are directed at us, too!
[00:19:59] True faith - be it Judaism or Christianity - requires that we ease the burden of others. And these are not suggestions, by the way, they are commands… these actions aren't optional, they are required.
[00:20:21] If we do live as God intends, Isaiah says…
“then shall your light break forth like the dawn,”
[00:20:33] By using the words “break forth” Isaiah is suggesting a certain level of haste… that this change will occur quickly!
[00:20:44] But it's also clear, from the context of the entire passage, that every action on the part of mankind requires that we cooperate with God.
[00:20:58] For the Jews, that meant following the law and keeping the Covenant… for modern Christians, that means listening to Jesus, being faithful disciples, and living as he taught us to live.
[00:21:17] And we should hear an echo of the Gospel here - let your light so shine before men! That's why the Church paired these two passages together.
[00:21:28] Isaiah goes on to say…
“and your healing shall spring up speedily;”
[00:21:35] Again, there's that suggestion of haste… and here we have to recall what the Jews who had returned from exile were asking for… the restoration of Jerusalem.
[00:21:48] Through Isaiah, God says: Jerusalem will be restored - quickly - if the people are just and sincere… but as long as injustice, oppression, wickedness, and internal conflict continue to exist, the restoration of Jerusalem will also be delayed.
[00:22:19] Isaiah continues…
“your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.”
[00:22:30] The promise there is that if the Israelites are righteous, their deeds will go before them and light their way. And that just as God protected the Israelites during the Exodus, he will now protect those who do his will… he will be their rear guard.
[00:22:53] “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am.”
[00:23:02] Meaning that when the Chosen People are faithful to the Covenant, God will be there for them.
[00:23:11] He says the same thing to us… if we do our part, if we are faithful, God will be there for us as well. But that requires genuine effort on our part.
[00:23:34] We have to turn TO God, not away FROM him.
[00:23:42] “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,”
Isaiah repeats here admonitions he first made back in verse six, before this week's passage actually began… that the poor can no longer be treated unjustly or openly oppressed, that internal conflict and hypocrisy must cease, that false accusations, slander, and malicious gossip can no longer be tolerated.
[00:24:21] Instead, the people must observe the law and live according to the Covenant.
[00:24:28] Let's be honest, we need to hear those words today, too!
[00:24:33] There is way too much division, conflict, and hatred in the world.
[00:24:43] Isaiah says…
“if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,”
[00:24:51] In other words, if you are just instead of corrupt…
“then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
[00:25:05] That's quite a declaration… and it's based on the people's adoption of authentic justice in place of insincere ritual actions.
[00:25:19] Isaiah is saying that when the people are truly faithful to God and to the Covenant, the light of Israel will dispel all darkness… and even what might be perceived as gloomy or overcast will be as bright as if the sun were directly overhead.
[00:25:39] For the purposes of this passage, the promise God is making to the returned exiles is that Jerusalem WILL be restored… as long as they are faithful, just, caring, and sincere.
[00:25:57] But remember, that requires authenticity!
[00:26:01] G.K. Chesterton once wrote that: just going to Church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.
[00:26:13] We can't just pretend… we can't just say we're Christian without being authentically faithful followers of Jesus.
[00:26:30] The message that Isaiah presented to those who had returned from exile in Babylon will be echoed in John's Gospel.
[00:26:40] Jesus will say, “all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (that's John 13), but attitudes and feelings aren't visible.
[00:27:00] Only concrete actions are visible - that's where our good works come into play.
[00:27:08] It is only when we act in upright and just ways that we can be recognized as disciples of Jesus… our love for others only becomes visible when we defend the helpless, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked… our love for others can only be seen when we shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving, and bury the dead… our love for others only comes to light when we visit those who are sick or in prison, protect the environment, and care for the most vulnerable living creatures in our earthly home, be they human or animal.
[00:28:02] Saint Catherine of Siena (14th century mystic, author, lay Dominican, and Doctor of the Church), wrote “be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire” - what better way could there possibly be to bring light to the world?
[00:28:27] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which is Psalm 112, and the refrain is:
“Light rises in the darkness for the upright.”
And here are the verses:
[00:28:41] “Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.”
“For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered for ever. He is not afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.”
“His heart is steady, he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire on his adversaries. He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures for ever; his horn is exalted in honor.”
This Psalm is a Wisdom Psalm, and it's actually a companion to Psalm 111. They are twin poems meant to go together… Psalm 111 describes the attributes of God and praises his wonderful works, while Psalm 112 describes the attributes of the people of God and the blessings bestowed upon them for their righteousness.
[00:30:04] Both have 10 verses, and both are acrostic poems, meaning that each line begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew Alphabet (that, of course, is lost in the English translation).
[00:30:23] Because they are companion Psalms, it is nearly impossible to avoid thematic crossovers between the two… and we see that in the first stanza where the Psalm lists three of God's qualities that were previously listed in Psalm 111.
[00:30:44] This Psalm is saying that because God is gracious, merciful, and righteous, God's people can in turn be gracious, merciful, and righteous in concrete and visible ways.
[00:31:02] And hopefully it's quite obvious why this Psalm and the passage from 3rd Isaiah were paired with this week's Gospel.
[00:31:11] That takes us to our Second Reading, which is again from 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5.
“When I came to you, [brothers and sisters], I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
[00:32:04] This is our fourth passage from 1 Corinthians - and if you think back to last week, Paul contrasted divine wisdom with worldly foolishness, saying that no one ought to indulge in proud boasting… that one should only boast in God.
[00:32:25] This week Paul, who was highly educated and very intelligent - enough that he could have easily boasted about himself if he chose to do so - instead sets aside his own achievements and accomplishments to remind his audience that, when he spoke to them, he relied on God alone. And if PAUL could do that, then ALL should do that.
[00:32:59] If Paul could set aside his education, his reputation, his training in Scripture and rhetoric, then all of us should be able to do that as well and rely on God rather than on ourselves.
[00:33:18] So, let's Listen to what Paul has to say to the Corinthians this week…
[00:33:25] “When I came to you, [brothers and sisters], I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom.”
[00:33:36] Paul is saying that he spoke his message simply and honestly, without fancy words or fine speeches prepared in advance… that he spoke as God inspired him to speak.
[00:33:56] “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
[00:34:04] We take Jesus’ Crucifixion - his Death and Resurrection as fact… perhaps, we take it too lightly.
[00:34:16] But for Paul, Jesus's Crucifixion meant a new beginning.
[00:34:23] When he encountered the person of Jesus, Risen from the dead, on the road to Damascus - that person became the truth he spoke on his Missionary Journeys, the truth he spoke to the Corinthians, truth that transcended human wisdom and eluded human articulation.
[00:34:53] “And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling;”
[00:34:59] Those are all reactions to God's presence, weakness, fear, and trembling - and they are all feelings that Paul relied on as he spoke the truth of Jesus in his travels.
[00:35:15] “and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom,”
Paul understood that logic, order, and well-reasoned arguments weren't going to convey the reality of the Risen Jesus; he is saying that his own speaking ability was actually a weakness that allowed God's power to work more perfectly through him.
[00:35:49] That the reality of Jesus could only be expressed, shared, transmitted to others through deep faith and genuine emotion… what Paul refers to as the…
“demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”
[00:36:16] Because the most effective, persuasive, dynamic proclamation of the good news of Jesus is ineffective unless the power of the Holy Spirit moves the heart and mind of the listener to accept what they've heard.
[00:36:40] I've said - time and again - that faith is a gift from God… this is a perfect example of why I say that… of why the Church says that.
[00:36:52] Think of the Holy Spirit prayer:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
[00:37:03] We can't have faith without the Holy Spirit, we can't love without the Holy Spirit, we can't do good works without the Holy Spirit, we can't be light for the world without the Holy Spirit.
[00:37:27] That is something we have come to understand down through the centuries, but why does Paul insist that the Holy Spirit is so central to HIS mission?
[00:37:38] He says to the Corinthians so…
“that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
[00:37:50] Remember I said a couple of weeks ago, Paul believed that HOW he said things wasn't important… but WHO he talked about was. That the only thing that was really important was the person of the Risen Christ… the one who saved the world through what appeared to be foolishness and weakness so that he alone could be praised for the salvation he earned for us!
[00:38:23] All too often, however, we do rely on human wisdom - or what passes for it sometimes - in this modern world.
[00:38:33] All too often, we believe what we're told to believe rather than believing what we see with our own eyes.
[00:38:43] All too often, we wait for others to do good rather than denouncing what's wrong and standing up for what's right ourselves.
[00:38:53] All too often, we rely on others to be upright and just, rather than taking concrete action ourselves to drive out the darkness of unjust and evil actions.
[00:39:09] But Jesus tells us that WE are salt and light - not someone else – US!
[00:39:17] Jesus tells us that OUR good works bring glory to God - not someone else's – OURS!
[00:39:25] Isaiah tells us to do good, and OUR LIGHT will shine like the dawn - not someone else's light - OUR LIGHT!
[00:39:35] Paul says OUR FAITH rests on the power of God - not someone else's faith - OUR FAITH!
[00:39:43] Perhaps we need to listen more to the wisdom of the Scriptures, rely less on what passes for human wisdom, and trust deeply in the power of God so that we can shine the light WE ARE GIVEN on a world that contains altogether too much darkness.
[00:40:12] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at
[email protected]
Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain, and may he hold you safe and secure in the palm of his hand.
From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions.
The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask.
Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved.
Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
