Christ Demonstrated Is Christ Proclaimed!

Sunday, February 8, 2026

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is 58:7-10; 1 Cor 2:1-5; Mt 5:13-16

The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time invites us to reflect on faith that does justice. 

The three readings of the day facilitate our understanding of integrating faith with life. 

The first reading presents what authentic worship looks like in context. By proposing a series of concrete actions, the prophet invites God’s people to embrace a life of active solidarity, which embodies love and justice towards the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. The passage underlines that acts of self-denial or ritual practices essentially culminate in love of God, neighbors, and community. We must also note that the prophet’s moral exhortation concerns structural and relational justice to show that systemic justice leads to the common good. The prophet thus shows that faithfulness to God is inseparable from faithfulness to one’s social obligations. In sum, the prophet wishes that a socially engaged faith must become the core identity of God’s people because God identifies closely with the people on the margins. 

In the second reading, Paul adds weight to the power of testimony. His thirst for evangelization took him to unknown places and put him amid unknown people who spoke unknown languages. Yet, Paul was not intimidated. As an intelligent man, Paul could have easily relied on his power of words and persuasion to convince people and convert them to the new faith. But he firmly trusted in the powerful work of the Spirit, and the magic unfolded right in front of his eyes. For Paul, authority arises from faithfulness to the gospel, not personal charisma. While Paul’s claim of weakness should not be reduced to his incompetency, he chose to proclaim and rely on the ‘Christ Crucified’ to win souls, thus overcoming the temptation to perform signs of power as Jews expected or master rhetorical brilliance as Greeks would want to see. Thus, Paul prized the wisdom of the Cross to transform people rather than relying on human strength, eloquence, or brilliance. 

The Gospel carries a forthright instruction that our faith depends on demonstration. The disciples of Christ become his representatives in the real world. The phrase ‘salt of the earth’ points to our missionary faithfulness so that we retain our distinctiveness in order to remain effective witnesses to God’s truth. Again, the phrase ‘light of the world’ calls for an uncompromising testimony to manifest our faith in action. Being Christ’s disciples calls for public witnessing. 

The two metaphors – salt and light – demand that our faith be made visible in transformative action. Jesus takes for granted that ‘we are’ the salt of the earth and the light of the world and does not suggest that ‘we become salt’ or ‘we try to be light.’ In other words, for Jesus, it is not that our actions qualify our identity but that our actions proceed from our identity as Christians. Thus, our goodness not only glorifies God but also becomes an antidote to the ailing society that, more often than not, considers religion as an opium. In essence, by employing the metaphors of salt and light, Christ wants Christians to imbibe the conviction that we are the saving graces of the world.

The readings of the day inspire us with some key insights. 

1. Christian spirituality transcends mere ritual worship. It is love made tangible in action. It is any good work that proclaims God’s goodness. Hence, a visible and life-giving spirituality must form the core of our Christian identity.

2. By putting the cross forward, Paul warns against the danger of hero worship or glorification of individual personalities. Paul is convinced that the messenger must not eclipse the message. Hence, for Paul, a successful mission is that which radiates God. 

3. Making our faith visible means advertising our Christian goodness. In this sense, advertising for the sake of evangelization is a welcome action, and there should be no modesty about it. To evangelize is to joyfully proclaim the privilege of Christian vocation.

Let us pray that we may retain our Christian identity and mission by being the salt and light of the world. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar