Imagine a world where nothing advances and nothing improves. It just stays the same as it was yesterday, just like the day before, where nothing improves and the world is just stuck in the same place forever. This, of course, is not the reality that we live in. Things advance every single day and improve upon what people have done in the past. We learn from what others have done and improve upon it.
I bring this up because it is possible for all of us to improve every single day and learn from what we have done or others have done. It is possible for us to improve and shine like a bright light in the world and to add flavor to this world that we live in. This is what Jesus reminds us about in the Gospel today, that we are called to shine brightly and not hide our light under a basket. We are called to add things to the world.
How can you improve the world by shining your light into the world? What is it that you can do to make that happen each and every day? Are you improving the world every single day or only when you feel like it? We are called to make this world a better place and add more to it every day. This can be for everyone. Everyone has a role to play in this world and how can you teach others by your words and actions.
What action can you do today to make this world a better place? This does not have to be complicated, it can be simply showing love to someone, or helping someone out, or just smiling at people and saying hello. You will be surprised if we just smile at someone they will smile back. I do this all the time. When someone is looking at you, just smile back. It is easy for us to think they are looking at me and judging, when it might be they are looking at movement. I believe we all do this. We see movement and look. Some might be judging but just smile back as a hello to them. What other actions can you do to make the world a better place?
Now it is time to talk about our words. Do our words reflect our belief in God? Do our words show that we are nice and kind or mean and ugly? We can choose to respond by being good or bad. We can choose to hurt or make someone else better. Our words can speak volumes about how we truly are. If the first things that come out of our mouths are something bad or hurtful, then most likely that is who we are. Or is it being kind and merciful. If you think that the first thing that I just say is bad things, but that is not who I truly am, my anger or impatience gets the better of me. I would recommend reevaluating who you are because if we are truly nice and kind, then the first thing we think of would be nice and merciful things, not hurtful or bad. How can you start to make this change and say the nice and merciful thing and not the mean and ugly?
Let us all work on our words and actions to improve this world and not be the salt that gets thrown to the ground. Let us pay attention to what we say and do and start to change and make this world a better place and teach those around us to do the same. We can change and God is there to help us.
Given on Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A