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Three people were viewing the Grand Canyon one day. One was an artist, one a priest and the third was a cowboy. As they stood on the edge of that massive abyss, each one responded to the wonder before them from their own particular perspective. The artist said, “What a beautiful scene to paint!” The priest cried, “What a wonderful example of God’s handiwork!” Finally the cowboy sighed and said, “Heck of a place to lose a cow.”
I kept thinking about my grandfather and in particular the night that he returned to Heaven. When he passed, of course, there was sadness, but it wasn’t the same kind of sadness that we often experience with a loss. And that was because we knew where he was going. My grandfather lived his life as a deeply prayerful man, devoted to God; devoted to the Church; devoted to his wife and children; devoted to service. He was a man that everyone knew and loved. We always said he should run for mayor and he would win in a landslide. Always a smile on his face, a joke to tell (that he never told correctly), a joyful song to sing (whether or not he could carry a note), and a kind word to share. For me, he was a model of how a good, holy, Christian man lives his life. And as I held his hand surrounded by family on the night he returned to Heaven there was in that room even a sense of joy because we knew he was receiving the reward that God had prepared for him from before time began. For me, he was the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
And you know, as I speak of him, I’m sure you’re thinking of someone in your family or in your life who was also salt and light. We all know people like my grandfather and all of them go to Heaven. We can be tempted to think that sanctity or holiness is something abstract or simply an ideal. But, I know that holiness is something real and tangible. We can be tempted to think that holiness is like caviar for the privileged few, like St. Francis, St. Thomas Aquinas or soon-to-be Blessed John Paul the 2nd. But, I have come to see that holiness is as common as salt. When Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” he was of course reminding us, His followers, of our obligation to live and spread His Gospel. He was telling His followers what they might become through His grace. But, I think He was also paying them a compliment. He was telling them that He already knew how good they were; how holy they were.
As I said, any homilist today has a choice between a homily that is a pat on the back or a slap on the cheek. I think this is a good day to offer ourselves a pat on the back. All of us here today are, to one degree or another, the salt of the earth and the light of the world already. In the short time that I’ve been with you here at St. Margaret’s and St. Mary’s, already I have met holiness in you each and every day. I see it in the devotion of those who come to daily Mass; those who have reared their families and taught them to share a devotion to God and His church. I see it in the innocent faces of our young people joyfully coming to church with a smile on their face. I see this holiness in those who care for the needy of our community, whose ministry brings them to prisons and nursing homes; I see this holiness in the face of the sick and the dying facing the greatest challenge of their lives with tremendous faith.
This holiness is prayer-powered and grace-filled! This much we all know, but we also need remember that this holiness reveals itself to us in human form. It is the sanctity that nods to us on the street, that offers us a bowl of hot soup on a cold day or helps to shovel us out from yet another snow storm. It is in the face of the person who tells us not to worry or that they understand what we’re going through or that they will offer a prayer for us and our needs. If our eyes our open, we can recognize the holiness that surrounds us at nearly every moment not floating high in the heavens out of reach, but right in front of us in the level that we live.
If there is a challenge to be found for us today as we hear these words about salt and light it is this – let us all pledge to expand the area of goodness and holiness in our lives. If we are reaching out this far in goodness, let us agree to reach out that much farther. Let us acknowledge today in this holy place for this Holy Mass that we are holy; let us remember all of the good and important ways that God’s holiness already shines on our faces and in our lives through our idealism, our commitment to faith and family and Church, through our devotion to prayer, our acceptance of the values of the Gospel, our prayerful celebration of the Holy Mass, our continual outreach to the homeless, the hungry, the sick and imprisoned.
I think that Jesus wants us to know today that holiness is not our destination it is our present reality – always in need of purification, of course; but we are already the salt of the earth and the light of the world and our good deeds give glory and praise to our Heavenly Father. Well done, good and faithful servants!
May God give you peace.