“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mark 9:50)
We Americans have a special problem with this text: Many of us are on a salt-free diet. But from time immemorial, salt always has had a profound meaning. It was so precious that it was how wages were paid. Payment for services in the military, what we call a salary, comes from salt [sel]. Like so many blessings in our modern lives, salt has lost its value because of its abundance.
Salt nevertheless was and remains a precious commodity. It has several properties; chief among them is to flavor food and to preserve meat.
It gives taste to a meal. It seasons the menu and gives it zest. So too life is meant to be more than bland existence. Our Lord Jesus expected His disciples to bring something special to any setting. Yes, especially to a meal, since we are creatures who gather around the table and share our outlooks on life. Because we have a bond with God, we have something unique to present to the company. If all those at the table are Christians, then we should be lifting up the spirits of the ones who are in need of inspiration. We are to be humble yet eager to tell what it’s like from our perspective to know the feeling of joy in union with the Father through Christ by means of the Holy Spirit.
Salt is a pure chemical. By its bright whiteness and distinctive taste it reminds us that we too are committed to purity. We honor virginity. We uphold the wholesome, chaste innocence of families and persons intent on preserving the values cherished by Christians everywhere and at all times.
Just as meat is preserved when coming in touch with salt, so we who “have salt in [our] selves” are being preserved intact for the coming of the Lord and the passage into the Kingdom of Heaven. If there is not spiritual salt within us to protect us from sin, then we, like polluted meat, are worthless. “Do you not know that you are temples of the Holy Spirit?” St. Paul reminds us. But if we give ourselves over to sin, our bodies are defiled and we violate the promise made by our godparents to see that we are alive in Christ since our baptism.
The means by which we keep ourselves pure, energized, and chaste for the Lord is by preserving the inner tranquility offered to us by the Lord. The peace of God within us makes true prayer possible. You will know that you have defiled yourself when you realize that you are unable to rise above the pettiness of this life and ascend in prayer to the Lord.
The ultimate criticism of a true Christian is that we are like everybody else. No longer salt, when we become as bland as sand, nobody looking at us or worshipping with us is able to say that they had a unique experience, one unlike anything they had ever known, and they are eager to become one of our spiritual community. Worse than criticism, it is an indictment. Our whole civilization is in a state of confusion. Terrorism is more than attack from enraged fanatics out to destroy our government. Inner terror, the kind that causes nightmares and angst is much worse. It invades the soul. It creates a constant state of confusion. It’s the real reason for the multiplication of suicides in our time.
Jesus Christ is the only answer to that state of bewilderment. He alone is the Prince of Peace and the Savior of the world. But where can one find Him, other than in the Church proclaiming His name, and where can one turn to as examples of what His message was about, if not the true Christians? Here is what He meant by salt and peace. Can it be found in our parish? Can someone look at you and see what He meant?