Matthew 5:13 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

¹³ “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.

Become the Salt of the Earth 

There are many phrases in our everyday language that are derived from the Bible. People use these terms without knowledge of their origin. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus speaks to us about being the “salt of the earth.” Salt of the earth people are down to earth, and easy to get-a-long with. These salt of the earth people are the real deal; they are not impressed with new cars, or expensive jewelry, nor do they care if you have a bigger home. Salt of the earth people celebrate your blessings and are not jealous of what you’ve gained. Salt of the earth people see with the eyes of reality; they gain wisdom in understanding the big picture of life.

If Jesus called us to be the salt of the earth, what did He mean by this? Jesus gave this message right after He taught the beatitudes. We are to be the salt of the earth because we are all called to preserve mankind. If salt loses its taste it is useless, and so are we if we lose our fire to serve. If you follow the beatitudes you come to the understanding that you matter. Just as salt preserves, we as Christians preserve what is good in this crazy world we live in.

If you want to be used by God, you must be the salt in your workplace, in your home, and wherever the Lord plants you. You will not be accepted with open arms when you give the right advice, or speak the truth to those who are unwilling to listen. God did not call us to be popular; He called us to be holy. We are to  touch the lives of others and make a difference in their walk by our living example.

Go the Extra Mile

The closer you draw to God, the better you can hear Him. The more you serve Him, the more He instructs and entrusts matters into your hands. We have to go that extra mile. This  means you must work with not only your mind but also with your heart. A perfect example of this is when you have experienced a falling out with someone who is near and dear to you. You, being the spiritual person, must understand that even if it was not your doing, you must take into account that God prepared you to respond in a loving manner. In spite of every part of you believing that you were NOT in the wrong, God tugs at your heart to apologize.  You may say, “What do I have to apologize for, I did nothing wrong!” Yes, you did! Keeping this resentment in your spirit is allowing room for the Enemy to slowly creep in and side with the fact that you are right to stay angry with the person who feels offended by your actions. Emotions are genuine; they may want to hold on to their pain, but don’t allow yourself to be dragged down into that state of mind. The gentleness of the Holy Spirit will comfort them through your prayers. The longer you wait to apologize, the more difficult it becomes to resolve. Five simple words suffice: “I am sorry, forgive me.” That’s simple, but yet we stand our ground…for what?

Matthew 5:41 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

41 Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles.

Read the Writing on the Wall

Sometimes it takes “the writing on the wall” to convince others of their wrong. The writing on the wall was a hand-written message from God in the Book of Daniel to King Baltassar, which read: mene, mene, tekel, peres. The pale faced king knew something was terribly wrong when he witnessed the hand writing on the wall. He was at a loss, and no one could interpret its meaning. The king called for Daniel; being the salt of the earth type of guy, Daniel tells the king the meaning of the words.  Mene meant that his days were numbered, tekel  meant that he was found unworthy to live or to reign any longer, and peres meant that his kingdom would be divided. King Baltassar was so busy celebrating his wonderful life that he lost sight of his real existence. He failed to learn from the lesson of his father King Nebuchadnezzar and continued to worship false gods.  The king was using sacred goblets that his father had plundered from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for his celebration. God had had enough, and he used the writing on the wall to set the king straight. The king was worshiping the god Bel in Babylon as the supreme deity. Every day his kingdom would spend twelve large measures of flour, sixty vessels of wine, and forty sheep on the god Bel. And every day the king went to adore this god Bel.

Daniel was the greatest prophet of his time; he already knew the meaning of the message. He didn’t wants any material riches the king offered because he was anointed and served the true God. When you serve the true God, He will supply all of your needs.

You must be sure to check everything out with God before moving on any  important decision, especially when it comes to your family or career. We can no longer take things for granted and expect to make the right choices without including God. God has to be the focal point in our lives if we want to attain success. There are two types of success: one gained by man and the other bestowed by God because of our faithfulness.

During this time the Romans paid soldiers with salt. The word salary means salt. Be the salt of the earth and do what is expected of you, but do it in the name of Christ!

James 5:16 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Our parish has set aside every  first Friday of the month for 24-hour Adoration. As Catholics we pray before the Blessed Sacrament, as it is our belief that we are in the presence of Christ. Every parish holds confessions; at our church we can go once a week. But on this day we have an opportunity to go to Confession after the 8:30 Mass. This Act of Contrition aids us in continuing our walk with the Lord with a clean slate.

A recent Pew Report reveals that over 69% of Catholics do not know that the Eucharist is the living Body of Christ, yet they receive communion when attending Mass. It is through God’s great mercy that a special blessing is extended to those who are ignorant of its true meaning. Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ is the most important aspect in our belief system, going to confession and receiving absolution cleanses us of our sins.

When we confess our sins we are liberated from all our transgressions:

1. Guilt is lifted;
2. We are no longer consumed by the sin;
3. If you have sinned against others, they, too, are released from bondage.

Guilt is one of the oldest tools of the Devil. Satan is constantly reminding us of our sins, and we often allow our self-talk to come into agreement with the Accuser of the Brethren. If you allow Satan to dictate your self-talk, he will overtake your mind; before you realize it, you are obsessed with this sin. You are in bondage because you have permitted negative self-talk to control your senses. You are robbed of joy and without joy there is no peace.

When someone has sinned against you and has broken your spirit, you develop anger toward that person. When you think of these persons, the Devil reminds you of the pain that they have caused you. It is through the act of confession that this heavy burden is lifted off your spirit and forgiveness takes its rightful place. God wants to heal us, and if we have a spirit of unforgiveness, the Holy Spirit will tug at our heart and guide us into the right path. But we must have the will to forgive.  We need to put all of sin’s debris at the foot of the Cross, where we learn to let it go. To a Christian this is the most difficult obstacle to conquer.

Unforgiveness is a heavy load to carry, yet some people carry this baggage for years. It’s like adding a few unwanted pounds on your body. If you do not change your eating, eventually your body will adjust to the added weight. Unforgiveness works in the same manner:  your mind conforms to your way of thinking, and the negative self-talk assures you how right you are to hold on to these unyielding thoughts. Your pain is all that matters.

Our mind was created to know and to serve God. How can God move in our lives if our minds are cluttered with ungodly thoughts?

I experienced full forgiveness by going to confession, because now my heart and spirit are one with God. Many times I find myself repeating the same sin, so until I can fully break that bondage, I will continue to confess the transgressions.

We all have direct access to God, and asking the Maker of us all for forgiveness is act of moving spiritually beyond our capacity to understand. We need to rid ourselves of the separation from God that we created because of our sin. Our conscience is a gift that constantly reminds us when we fall short. Our conscience also works to free us and binds us once again so that we may have communion with God.

Why do Catholics go to a priest to confess sins? The priest is the intercessor and mediator between man and God. Jesus gave the apostles the ability to forgive sins:

John 20:21-23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²¹ So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” ²² And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

I can only express my personal experiences when I do go to a priest and confess my sins. I am completely restored and can continue to serve the Lord with a contrite heart. I am a sinner, and I know that it will only be a matter of hours when something will cause me to fall again. But because I serve a God who is rich in mercy and loves to forgive me, I can ask Him again and again for  forgiveness.  He calls me His friend, and He wants to heal me.

Psalm 103:2-4 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Matthew 13:31-32 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

³¹ He proposed another parable to them. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. ³It 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 mustard seed is the smallest seed, yet it is mentioned in the Bible five times. Small things matter in the kingdom of God. Though the seed is small, once it is planted in fertile soil it can sprout within five to ten days. Life is like the mustard seed; we all start small and, depending on how we are nurtured, we grow in the right direction.

I had my first encounter with mustard seeds in the small town of Bethany. The Church of Lazarus, located behind Jerusalem stone walls, is a real life sanctuary from chaos of Bethany now know as Al-Eizariya. Once you get through the gate, you must pass through a beautiful garden with lush flowers, and a meandering pathway to reach the main church. This church, like most Catholic Churches in the Holy Land, is run by the Franciscans. The number of Catholics in this parish has dwindled to less than 20 families in this mostly Muslim community.

When we arrived the priest was preparing for Easter Sunday service. He was not expecting a large crowd, yet the church was being adorned with white linens and white lilies on the altar. We prayed and sang a few hymns. The acoustics in this small church even made my flat voice sound angelic bouncing off the interior walls of this sanctuary.  Though I have been to this church many times, my eyes never fail to gaze at the beautiful mosaics; even while praying, I do not want to miss their awe-inspiring allure.  The altar is made of eilat stone, a deep green with blue hues, makes it the focal point of the tabernacle. This particular stone can only be found in Solomon’s mine. The pews are ordinary hard wood that creek loudly when you move. Only a small part of the Byzantine floor remains of the original church.

After we finished our petitions we headed outside the iron gates to get to Lazarus’ tomb. You cannot help but notice the mosque built almost directly on top of Lazarus’ Tomb.

Waiting at the entrance to the tomb was kind Arab man charging 3 shekels to enter the holy site. Going down the steps this time seemed a lot steeper and more claustrophobic. I held on to the walls and some guard railing to guide my footing, but I was still uneasy because the twenty-four steps are irregular, some shorter and some more narrow; even the opening to the tomb seemed smaller. I was with three men from our ministry, and they found it amusing that I had to talk my way into the tomb. When we reached the sacred site, we prayed. We prayed for those who needed to believe God for the impossible. When it was time to leave, I had to really psych myself on how to crawl out of the tomb.

I always feel the presence of God after praying at holy sites, and this was no exception. Just a few feet outside the tomb we saw a mature mustard tree located on private property. There is always someone there to greet us and to sell us some mustard seeds. This is the only place that I know of in the Holy Land where you can conveniently purchase mustard seeds, and depending on who is selling them, they could cost between two to four dollars. I always make it a point to purchase these biblical seeds.

In order to use the mustard seed it must be crushed; it has a bitter taste. The Word of the Lord has a bitter taste to those who do not believe. The Lord is telling  us that even if our faith is as small as a grain of mustard seed, He will take care of our concerns. God can use that small faith that you have to move mountains. God does not measure your faith, nor does He  compare your faith to other’s. He just wants you to have faith so that He can complete the work in you.

We are all called, and each of us has special gifts. God did not leave anyone out when He bestowed His gifts.

Look at those around you and you will recognize their gifts. My husband Mike’s greatest gift is servanthood; he cannot help but take care of those he loves, and he does this with great humility. I don’t have that gift, but I do understand my gifts and the calling God has chosen for me. As much as I would like to have a great voice, I do not because this is not one of my gifts. I love to teach the Word of God, which entails a lot of study, and with study comes discipline. I must manage my time in order to fulfill my calling. I teach three different groups, and it would be so helpful if I could use the same lesson plan for all three groups, but that is not how God would have it. Each of these classes has students who are at different levels of faith and understanding.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

⁷ To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. ⁸ To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; ¹⁰ to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.

The mustard seed may seem small and insignificant to the world, but to God it is a tool for us to live by. Even a little faith can grow into big belief. When I taught Bible study in the public schools through “Release Time Christian Education, ” I would always tape a seed to the childrens’ Bibles to remind them to have faith. It did not matter if their faith was as small as a grain of mustard seed because God was going to cause it to grow.