Salt Fire and Life

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionarytake us through some serious advice offered in the form of snippets of spiritual wisdom. Friar Jude Winkler comments that the author of the passage from Sirach is addressing people who are young and perhaps young in their faith. Our tendency as humans is to seek security in wealth, power and strength. These directions are contrary to growth in our relationship with God. The focus of our trust is in the Lord. The believer is aware that it is not possible to move in two directions. We need to decide to move toward God today and, as Friar Jude notes, not presume upon the mercy of God. Conscious experience of our relationship with God illuminates for us the path of purification to which we are invited. Psalm 1 attends to our need to decide with whom and how we spend our time. The pursuits of the wicked and insolent are close enough to our daily life that we may be taken away from the path of the righteous. Jesus is presented in the episode from the Gospel of Mark as a Wisdom teacher with some spiritual guidelines to keep us on the path. Friar Jude notes that the use of Jewish exaggeration is a presentation technique which caught the attention of the audience. Believers who hear Jesus literally will be people who have become blind and lame as a consequence of their sin. The description of the righteous as being salted with fire is our call to purification and enthusiastic zeal about our decision to follow Jesus. This direction and attitude is evidence of the conviction we have that trust in the Love of God is Life.