Weekly HOMILY for September 23, 2007: Spouses As Salt and Light for the World

Marriage of Steve and Jennifer Lammon
(Readings: 7/9/2)
Our Lady of Grace
September 21, 2007

Spouses As Salt and Light for the World
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


NOTE: In lieu of “Deacon Preaching Sunday,” the following wedding homily on how we can be salt and light to others is being shared.


Symbols and Their Role

Salt and light, two very beautiful and disarmingly simple symbols feed our faith and challenge the quality of our discipleship as we gather today for the wedding of Steve and Jenn.

You look at the two of them and you’d have to say, with their years of experience, they are already well seasoned. They are already salt. With their life experience, they’re already lights to us. And that may be true.

But to say that, is to acknowledge already that we understand well the symbols of salt and light.

So I’d like to press the envelope a bit and ask us today, “What might the symbols of salt and light mean for marriage?”

If we take Jesus at this word, then his charge, “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,” implies that we are to live in such a manner that we impart the services or characteristics of salt and light to those around us.

And in this sense, the two symbols connect their power, which we are able to experience first-hand, to the choices that lie before us. They give us a vision of what needs to be done; they motivate us to act similarly; they hold the goal ever before us.

And they last a long, long time for every time we see salt and light we are reminded again of what we are called to do and the choices we must make.

Symbols – be they the wedding rings of Steve and Jenn will exchange, or salt and light – are profound realities that move us beyond themselves to higher realms of living.


Being Salt

So let us begin by taking a closer look at salt. When properly used, salt lends taste; it enhances without masking, muting or otherwise interfering with the flavors it complements.

When used correctly, salt is unobtrusive, and yet, when salt is not present, its absence renders food bland and virtually unpalatable. Try a bowl of soup without any salt.

Given these characteristics, Jesus’ imperative that his followers be the “salt of the earth” requires that you, Steve and Jenn, carefully and humbly examine yourselves and your contributions to your family, friends, and your workplace.

Do your words and works lend “taste” to how you act as a couple at gatherings, within your families, within your circle of friends?

Do your actions and decisions enhance and complement, without masking, muting or interfering with, the good things that are going on in your lives?

Is there quality in how you care for others, in your forgiving those who’ve wronged you, in being concerned about those in need?

Are your actions unobtrusive and yet necessary for the good of others … and missed when they are not present?

Steve and Jenn, you have certainly chosen a challenging symbol to become. Your faith will help you meet the challenge of the symbol of salt.


Being Light

Besides being the salt of the earth, Jesus’ disciples are also charged with being light for a world that would otherwise be darkened by human sin and selfishness.

That Jesus was well aware of the arduous struggle inherent in being light and of the tendency on the part of some to try to contain or confine that light is evidenced in his directive to “let your light shine before all.”

Steve and Jenn, that freely shining light is comprised of good acts such as those recommended in the Letter to the Hebrews that you have chosen as your second reading.

Your love must be mutual and continual. Honor your own marriage and the marriages of others. Do not neglect hospitality. Be content with what you have.

Only a clear vision and understanding of Jesus as your guide and helper in these efforts will help you not be afraid.

Your inner light does illumine our world by the way it helps you treat each other and your friends and family.

Heaven knows we all need this sort of modeling, for it is not something our workplaces, social or family gatherings will give us.


And the Role of Symbols

Ah, the challenges you have chosen in the images of salt and light!

To be salt, but not to overpower every other nuance of taste; to enable, facilitate, and enhance, but not to control or overwhelm,

To be light, but not to seek the limelight; to illuminate and warm, but not be overexposed,

This, my dear friends, is the balancing act that is the life of the disciple.

May every flick of a light switch lighting a darkened room.... May every shake of a saltshaker...

...be reminders of whom you have chosen to be for each other in marriage and to be for us your family and friends.