The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to apply our faith to the reality of the environment in which we live imperfectly called to be salt and light when the paradox of fear and trembling might be our experience.
The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah presents Reasons for Judgment.
* [58:6–12] Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 112 is an acrostic poem detailing blessings.
* [Psalm 112] An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 111. (Psalms, PSALM 112 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians proclaims weakness* and fear and much trembling.
* [2:1] The mystery of God: God’s secret, known only to himself, is his plan for the salvation of his people; it is clear from 1 Cor 1:18–25; 2:2, 8–10 that this secret involves Jesus and the cross. In place of mystery, other good manuscripts read “testimony” (cf. 1 Cor 1:6).
* [2:3] The weakness of the crucified Jesus is reflected in Paul’s own bearing (cf. 2 Cor 10–13). Fear and much trembling: reverential fear based on a sense of God’s transcendence permeates Paul’s existence and preaching. Compare his advice to the Philippians to work out their salvation with “fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12), because God is at work in them just as his exalting power was paradoxically at work in the emptying, humiliation, and obedience of Jesus to death on the cross (Phil 2:6–11).
* [2:4] Among many manuscript readings here the best is either “not with the persuasion of wisdom” or “not with persuasive words of wisdom,” which differ only by a nuance. Whichever reading is accepted, the inefficacy of human wisdom for salvation is contrasted with the power of the cross. (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Matthew presents The Similes of Salt and Light.
* [5:13–16] By their deeds the disciples are to influence the world for good. They can no more escape notice than a city set on a mountain. If they fail in good works, they are as useless as flavorless salt or as a lamp whose light is concealed.
* [5:13] The unusual supposition of salt losing its flavor has led some to suppose that the saying refers to the salt of the Dead Sea that, because chemically impure, could lose its taste. (Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. Andy Alexander, SJ, comments that it is fair to say that many of us would say we don’t feel like the salt of the earth or the light of the world. Jesus is, in fact, telling us that we are gifted and called to be salt and light for our world.
We can read Isaiah 58 carefully as an aid to help us name the desires we have for our Lenten journey. This may be what God wants to give us during Lent. We can ask for these graces, and they can be our Lenten practices. We can ask to be renewed in this call, in our relationship with the poor, in our interaction with the most vulnerable, even in the way we advocate for those seeking justice, and in the way we discern how we will cast our vote.
We won’t let our salt lose its taste. We won’t hide our light under a bushel basket. (Alexander, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “The Light of Truth,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).
The Lord has already called his disciples the "salt of the earth" because they seasoned with divine wisdom the hearts of the human race which had been made tasteless by the devil. Now he also calls them the "light of the world." For, illumined by his very own self who is the true and eternal light, they too become light within the darkness. For since he himself is the sun of righteousness, he rightly also calls his disciples "light of the world." Through them, as if through shining rays, he poured the light of his knowledge on the entire world. For by showing the light of truth, the Lord's disciples made the darkness of error flee from people's hearts. (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 19.1.1-2)
[Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."] (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 comments that Paul never tired of reminding the Corinthians that the wisdom and power of God were their foundation. He would say the same to us because he knows how easy it can be to rely only on our own strength and wisdom. We need to look to Jesus, risen and victorious, and place our trust in him.
So let’s expand our thinking today and step out, trusting in our mighty God. Let’s turn to him first when we’re concerned about our loved ones. Let’s pray boldly for God to work in their lives. And if it takes time to see an answer, let’s keep praying! God’s power can change hearts far beyond what we can do on our own. Our best preaching or persuading, or even the witness of our lives, can’t compare with what the power of God can do. To begin, we need only to trust and pray—and watch to see what he will do.
“Lord, I trust in your power and love!” (Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the first reading is from Third Isaiah after the Exile when they arrived back in a depleted Israel and the text says the fault is theirs. Because they are not living the practice of sharing and helping the homeless. Faith is both vertical, in a relationship with God and horizontal in relationship with people. Paul speaks about weakness and preaching Christ crucified after his rejection in Athens by the Greek philosophers who believed the soul had to be rescued from the body. The Gospel of Mattthew presents two Wisdom sayings in the Sermon on the Mount that remind us that if salt lost its flavour it would be thrown out and we should give public witness like a lamp that is not hidden. Friar Jude notes that a later admonition in the Gospel about not letting our right hand know is a reference to our motivation in letting others witness our actions.
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, identifies how the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 is a metaphor for the loss of innocence that we all experience.
The text states, “the eyes of both of them were opened” (3:7). What they were opened to was a split universe. Teachers of prayer call it the “subject-object split.” This happens whenever we stand over and against things, apart and analytical, and can no longer know things by affinity, likeness, or natural connection. Instead, we merely know them as objects out there, subject to our suspicion and doubt.
This move of “leaving the garden” begins in all human beings somewhere around seven years of age. Before that time, like Adam and Eve in the garden, we exist in unitive consciousness. It’s where we all begin, when “the father and I are one” (John 10:30), or my mother and I are one—as many of us enjoy in the first years of life.
Eventually the split happens. It has to happen. We will eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and suffer the “wound of knowledge.” We will get suspicious of ourselves and of everything else. We will doubt. That’s called the state of alienation, and many live their whole lives there. (Rohr, n.d.)
We implore the Wisdom of the Spirit as we take on our mission to be good flavour in our environment as light against fear and despair.
References
Alexander, A. (2025, February 8). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-8-2026
Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58?
Matthew, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5?13
Meditation on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/08/1496114/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/2?
Psalms, PSALM 112 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/112?4
Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Story for All Time. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-story-for-all-time/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). You Are the Salt of the Earth and Light of the World. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 8, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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