Readings: Philp 2: 1 -11 and Mt: 5: 13-16.
Homily – LWH: Mass
History of Women Students in Loyola Campus:
Loyola was founded in 1925 as a boys college with 75 students with three departments: Maths, History, and Economics – After a few decades of thinking of offering education to girls in PG programs, first lady lecturer were appointed. Then, permission was obtained from Fr General in Rome for admitting 25% of students as girls in PG programs. And recently we admitted girls in UG programs, such as VisCom and now Botany and Zoology. Loyola has been extending the service of education for all and is convinced that the role of women is important in the society. Today we are convinced that education is the salt and the light of values for the world.
Education as Formation:
An educational institution like Loyola is the nursery of preparing the students as saplings of entrepreneurs, pathfinders, and leaders in the society. They need careful handling and effective formation. And education is to shape up the whole person in head, heart, and hand with critical thinking, world embracing heart, and service wielding hands. And you are invited to this temple of learning to grow in knowledge and wisdom as Jesus grew up in Nazareth (Lk 2:52).
Salt and Light of the World: Mt: 5: 13-16
In the Gospel today, Jesus names or designates or dedicates us as the salt and the light of the world. After His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continues with His teaching. He says: You are the salt and the light of the world (Mt 5:13-16).
I recall an interesting event while I was studying Theology in Germany. One day orange was served – It was tempting and I took a big orange. When I peeled it and took a slice, it was very sour. I was wondering what to do – The Germans do not waste food. What you take in the plate, you should eat. As I was wondering, something flashed in my mind – That is what I studied in my UG allied Chemistry. Salt could neutralize acid. I sprinkled salt on each slice and I could manage that day. A 98-Year old Jesuit, who sat by my side at lunch table, told me that he learnt something new that day!
Salt adds to the taste of food but too much salt would make it non-edible. And prolonged use of too much salt, would cause high blood pressure, heart disease, and even stroke. Salt is also a preservative element. Our activities should add meaning to the existence of our fellow human beings. We also need to preserve our values and good practices that bring in unity and harmony. In the ancient world, salt was very valuable: the Greeks thought it contained something almost divine, and the Romans sometimes paid their soldiers with salt. It was said that a soldier who didn’t carry out his duties up to the expectation “was not worth his salt.” You are a seasoning agent. In a sense, you can bring in the distinctive flavour of God’s values to all in life. You can make life palatable. Further, to be effective, we must be involved where we study now or later where we shall work and wherever we live.[1]
Light is essential for all living beings: Light has brightness and warmth and both are needed for the origin and growth of life. Light could be used for both constructive as well as destructive purposes. When Armstrong landed on the moon on 20Jul1969, communication system failed for a few moments. At that time, laser was used to keep up the contact. But laser also could be used, as you know, for detonating destructive devices. Laser could be used for precise surgery as done in robot-assisted brain surgery but laser, as you might have seen in StarWars, could be used to destroy people and properties. We are the light to bring life and meaning to others. Loyola motto is: Let your light shine – Let our good work shine to the world. You need to bring in life and meaning for all.
Elsewhere Jesus says: I am the Light of the World (Jn 8:12) and today he says: You are the light of the world (Mt 5:14). We share the same light of love and care with Jesus. Jesus said: Love your neighbor as you love yourself (Mk 12:31). The precondition to love others is to love ourselves – Very often we do not love ourselves enough. We compare ourselves with others and feel inadequate or diffident or even disappointed. But Jesus has chosen us as we are for a unique purpose – He loves us with the condition that we love ourselves. Only when I love myself and accept myself as I am, can I love others and accept them as they are. The light of Jesus is compassion and service. His life could be summarized in one sentence: He went about doing good (Act 10:38). When people suffered, he had compassion. Whoever came to him, friends or critics, neighbor or foreigner, known or unknown – he always extended His helping hand. It is not our intelligence nor our success that should shine to others but our compassion felt and good works done to others. The job description of a Christian is not only to maintain personal holiness but also to touch the lives of everyone around us.
To ‘be salt’ means to deliberately seek to influence the people in one’s life by showing them the unconditional love of Christ through good deeds. Light is a symbol used to mean awareness, knowledge, and understanding. And letting your light shine, implies, in the words of Jesus: people may see your good deeds and glorify God in heaven (Mt 5:16).
Disposition Needed: Philp 2: 1 -11
To be the salt and the light of the world we need to grow in a few dispositions. During our stay and study in Loyola, we need to be formed – Formation is not just what is given to us by others, we ourselves need to form ourselves as we have the inner power and motivation. Thus, formation is a two way process: your part and our part – we operate and you cooperate. Paul describes in his letter to the Philippians the conducive dispositions:
- Personal Characters: We need to grow in tenderness and compassion to understand the other and to create unity of mind and heart with our fellow human beings.
- Other Centeredness: We look not only to our own interest but also the interest and need of others, since we form a global family and we have one Father, God.
- Model: Our model is Jesus and we need to have His mindset. Jesus, though God, became a human being (Phil 2:6-8). He was not a boss but a servant. He was not demanding service but he washed the feet of His disciples. He was a servant leader.
- God in us: God is working in us to fulfill His purpose. Paul proclaimed to the Colossians: I fulfill what is not completed by Jesus (Col 1:24) in redeeming the world. We become partners of Jesus to do good to others and become the other-Jesus.
- Stars of the World: We are like stars dancing the beauty and grandeur of God. The Pole star shines brightly to guide people. We are like stars not only singing the praise of God what he did to us but also finding the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27) in others and to help them.
Jesuit Education as the Salt and Light:
Jesuit education is the salt and the light of our life. It includes formation in values and in attitudes, in addition to academic excellence. Since a knowledge of good and evil, and of the hierarchy of relative goods, is necessary both for the recognition of the different influences that affect freedom and for the exercise of freedom, education takes place in a moral context: knowledge is joined to virtue. Personal development through the training of character and will, overcoming selfishness and lack of concern for others, and developing the freedom that respects others and accepts responsibility, is all aided by the necessary and fair regulations of Jesuit education system; these include a fair system of discipline. Of equal importance is the self-discipline expected of each student, manifested in intellectual rigor, persevering application of mind and heart to serious study, and conduct toward others that recognizes the human dignity of each individual. In a Jesuit institution of higher education, a value system is acquired that needs to be nurtured and preserved all through one’s life.[2] Jesuit education is the salt and light of values – We need to imbibe, nurture, preserve, and proclaim them to all in the world. Thus, we become the salt and light of the world.
Go forth and do Good:
Education enlightens and preserves you: When you are discouraged and depressed, it enlivens you; when you stand confused, it shows the way; and when you are lost, it leads you. Jesuit education leads you along the road of life of meaning. Education, in general, may offer you success but Jesuit education makes your life meaningful to yourself and useful to others. Today we are invited to live as persons of blessing and meaning to people who live with us. So we should be the light of inspiration and salt of good deeds to others in our hostel, in our class rooms, in the campus, and with all we would meet in our lives today, tomorrow, and all the days to come in our lives.
Jesus became the salt of the world with His teaching of ‘be good and do good’ and the light of the world dispelling the darkness of evil. And today He wants us to take His place. Let us march with the spirit of Jesus and transform the world. And the invitation to be the salt and the light is a lifelong call – Let us adhere to the divine invitation all along.
Your parents might like you to be the salt and the light of the family. Loyola wants you to be the salt and the light of the world. All the best in your studies and formation now and later in your service to the nation and the world.
Francis P Xavier SJ
26Aug2022
[1] https://www.theologyofwork.org/new-testament/matthew/the-kingdom-of-heaven-at-work-in-us-matthew-5-7/salt-and-light-in-the-world-of-work-matthew-513-16
[2] https://www.sjweb.info/documents/education/characteristics_en.pdf