Living at the Crossroads of the World: Salt, Seed, Leaven and Light for the New World

All of these images concerning the spread of the kingdom are meant to bring home the new reality that comes from our discipleship

All of these images bring home the new reality that comes from our discipleship. In the words of St. Jose Maria Escriva, "May Our Lord be able to use us so that, placed as we are at all the cross-roads of the world - and at the same time placed in God - we become salt, leaven and light. Yes, you are to be in God, to enlighten, to give flavor, to produce growth and new life. But don't forget that we are not the source of this light: we only reflect it." (St. Jose Maria Escriva, Friends of God, 250)

P>CHESAPEAKE, VA. (Catholic Online) - On the 15th Sunday in Ordinary time I proclaimed the marvelous parable of the sower and the seed at Holy Mass (Matt. 13: 1-23) The last part contains the section where Jesus opens up the parable upon inquiry by His disciples in these words:

"Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold."

The parable has been the source of inspiration of some of the richest reflections on the dynamic power of God's word in the Sacred Tradition. Clearly, we are both the soil and the seed. That Word, the Living Word, is sown within us and we must cultivate the ground of our "hearts", the center of our very identity, so that we can be transformed in the Lord and more fully and completely reflect His Image and likeness.

However, there is the other aspect of the parable, the missionary response, which can best be seen within the context of other parables from the Master. We ourselves become seed, in His Holy Hands, being spread into the world. It is that world, which he created, that needs to be re-created again in and through Him. We are seeds of the Kingdom. The other imagery used for this dynamic and missionary insight found within our text is also contained in Matthews Gospel:

"Jesus said to his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." (Matt. 5: 13 - 16) The passage calls to mind the words of the Lord, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

We have been baptized into Christ who now lives His life in us - and we live our lives in Him. This becomes reality by living in His Body, the Church, for the sake of the world. The Father still loves the world and gives His Son to save it. (John 3: 16)  Now, that gift continues through you and me. In Matthews Gospel Jesus uses more images to further communicate this message to us:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened." (Matt. 13: 31 - 33)  We are light and leaven, salt and seed, in a world waiting to be born.

All of these images concerning the spread of the kingdom are meant to bring home the new reality that comes from our discipleship. In the words of St. Jose Maria Escriva, "May Our Lord be able to use us so that, placed as we are at all the cross-roads of the world - and at the same time placed in God - we become salt, leaven and light. Yes, you are to be in God, to enlighten, to give flavor, to produce growth and new life. But don't forget that we are not the source of this light: we only reflect it. (St. Jose Maria Escriva, Friends of God, 250)

As Christians we are called to love the world as God loves the world. Because we live in Jesus Christ, He continues His redemptive mission in and through us! God created us for Himself. He made us in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:27). He placed us within this created world with a purpose. God so loved the world he sent His only Son into it to save it! (John 3:16).

Jesus now walks in that world through His Body, the Church, which is the new world, re-created in Christ. Understanding and living this reality is supposed to change the way we view our human existence. We live our daily lives now in the Lord. In a very real sense, we actually live in the Church and go into the world. One of the titles that the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council ascribed to the Church (found in early patristic literature) is the "the world reconciled." That same Council reaffirmed the ancient Patristic Image of the Church as a seed of the kingdom.

Some of the confusion concerning our relationship to the world comes from the remnants of one of the early heresies in Christian history, Manichaeism. The followers of this error believed that all matter itself was evil. That is NOT the Christian belief. We profess in our Creed a belief in a bodily resurrection and the coming of a new heaven and new earth!  Yet this error of viewing matter as evil still infects and can lead to a kind "ghetto mentality" whereby Christians withdraw from the world. Some confusion also comes from ways the phrase "the world" is used in the New Testament.

There is "the world" that God created and looked upon and said "it is good". (See e.g. Genesis, chapter 1). That world is still good. It is filled with beauty and reflects the Divine artist and architect who made it. That world He entrusted to the crown of his creation - man and woman.  Then there is a system, that culture of death and use, which has squeezed God out of His rightful place and substituted idols.

That system is also called "the world" in the bible. (See, e.g. James 4:4). We are not to "love" that world, in the sense of giving ourselves over to its dominion. We are to reject that system in order to free those enchained by its lies. The Father wants to bring the entire human race back into a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ. Those of us who live in Christ are sent on that mission into the world.

The power to effect redemptive change in the world comes from the life of God within us. It is amazing how little leaven it takes to raise a loaf of bread. That is because within those little particles of yeast is found the power to ferment, to change the lump of wet dough into a loaf of aromatic, tasty, nourishing bread. However, the power contained within that yeast is not activated unless it is mixed and kneaded into the dough.

Once you work the leaven in, it is still hidden to the eye but how it transforms that loaf! So it is with Christians within human culture! The power within us is the very same power that raised Jesus from the dead (See Romans 8:11)! All we are asked to do is to mix it up. We have to get in the loaf. We must be in the world - where Jesus is - in order to be used to accomplish His ongoing work of redemption.

Leaven that is not used in time spoils and loses its capacity to ferment that dough; it must be active or it becomes useless. That leaven must be in the dough to effect its extraordinary change. So it is with all of us. We must be "in the world" to effect its transformation. Once hidden in the loaf, leaven always raises the dough. It also takes human effort - it must be kneaded and worked into the loaf.

So it is with our lives of faith. Faith is a verb, it must be exercised. By living in the heart of the Church in the center of the world we bring the world back to God. This kind of missionary mindset has inspired great missionary ages in the past and brought extraordinary changes to entire cultures. It can once again! However, it always begins one person, one grain, at a time.

The seed of the kingdom, the living Word, has been planted within us. And now, we become the seed, the salt and the leaven for the Divine Sower who continues His redemptive mission in a world waiting to be reborn in Him.He now spreads us in the field of the world to bear a harvest for the Kingdom to come. We are called to live at the crossroads of that world and become missionaries of the new world, of which the Church is a seed and sign.

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