5^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel – Matthew 5:13-19

Let’s Get Cooking!

Spice Shop in Jerusalem

Ginger and I watch a lot of food shows, most of them cooking competitions like Top Chef, Food Network Star, Hell’s Kitchen, Chopped and especially Master Chef (Australia – the best).  And with all of those shows, it boggles the mind how often someone gets booted off the competition because their dish “lacked flavor”, because their dish either lacked or needed just another pinch of salt!  In fact, just last week, one contestant got eliminated from the competition because of one simple mistake - they forgot to put salt in the recipe when they made bread!  And the bread came out flavorless and bland!  I may have my Senior Moments lately but so far at least, I have not forgotten the salt when I’m baking bread!

I must admit I like my share of salt.  To Ginger’s chagrin, I am always adding more salt to the dish.  I recall someone (Mark Twain?) once saying that they would never trust anyone who salted their food before they even tasted it.  To each his own, I guess!

We tend to forget how important salt was in the ancient world.  Yes, it was used to season food and to enhance or bring out the innate flavor of the dish.  But it was also used as a preservative.  At a time of no refrigeration or freezing, that was the only way to extend the “shelf life” of food.  You salted fish to preserve it for the days when you didn’t catch any fish.  It was used as currency, an additive, a preservative, even a medicine!   Salt, in the time of Jesus, was brought to the Holy Land, by caravans from Africa.  It took the form of clumps of earth filled with salt crystals. Hence the reference to ‘salt of the earth’!  If the dirt got wet or damp, the salt would go flat and become useless. Salt, back then, was pure gold!  And you were very careful about how you kept it and how you used it.

Consider the Salt March, which took place from March to April 1930 in India!  It was an act of civil disobedience led by Gandhi to protest British rule in India. During the march, thousands of Indians followed Gandhi from his religious retreat near Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some 240 miles.  Salt was and continues to be an essential item of food and was consumed by both the rich and the poor. The British government had a monopoly over its production and had levied a tax on it.

We live in a world today that has been dulled by sin, ignorance and sheer boredom.  We see so much violence, hatred and outright bigotry that we become used to it, at times unaffected by it.  Today’s Gospel reminds us that we are all called to transform that blandness of life – to give flavor to our own lives and that of others.  We are called to not just “preserve” our faith but keep it alive, keep it fresh and flavorful.  And we are also called to spread that faith, to bring that same energy and spice to the faith life of others. 

If we expect others to ‘hunger’ for the Word of God, for His message of love and forgiveness, then we must proclaim and live out a message that is neither bland nor lifeless nor flat! 

So let’s get cooking!