{"id":5923,"date":"2014-02-15T12:12:38","date_gmt":"2014-02-15T12:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=5923"},"modified":"2014-02-15T12:12:38","modified_gmt":"2014-02-15T12:12:38","slug":"5th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-09-02-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/?p=5923","title":{"rendered":"5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (09.02.14)"},"content":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (09.02.14)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Salt adds flavour to food and keeps it from going bad.
\nLight brightens up the world, and shows people the way.
\nIn today\u2019s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples that they are to be like light and salt.<\/p>\n

In the first reading (Isaiah\u00a0 58:7-10) the prophet, speaking in God\u2019s Name, promises the people, that if they show concern for others, especially the poor, then their light will break forth like the dawn.<\/p>\n

Christ, in the Gospel (Matthew 5: 13-16) expands this further, exhorting His disciples to let the light of their good works shine for all to see \u2013 always giving God the glory.<\/p>\n

He asks us to practise our Christianity not just in church, but out there in the real world in whatever situation we happen to find ourselves.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell then, this Gospel is about quality of life and goodness.\u00a0 The best witness I can give to Christ is the authenticity of my life.<\/p>\n

I may not be strong enough to be a beacon of light, but if I have a little goodness and try to be true to it, then at least I can be a humble candle shedding light in its own vicinity.
\nI can shine by my joyful gratitude to God for His many blessings.
\nI can shine by patiently enduring suffering or pain
\nI can shine by speaking kindly about others, and not taking part in idle gossip.
\nI can shine by my non-judgemental attitude, never holding a grudge, always ready to forgive
\nI can shine by trying always to be an instrument of peace.
\nI can shine by reaching out to others with compassion and love.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have to be great biblical scholars, or people of high rank and status in society to be a light for others.
\nIt is how we live our everyday lives \u00a0that is the most powerful witness.<\/p>\n

The words of the following anonymous little poem show us a very simple method:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not the things that can be bought that are life\u2019s richest treasure,
\nIt\u2019s just the little \u201cheart gifts\u201d that money cannot measure:<\/p>\n

A cheerful smile, a friendly word, a sympathetic nod
\nAre priceless little treasures from the storehouse of our God.<\/p>\n

These are things that can\u2019t be bought with silver or with gold,
\nFor thoughtfulness and kindness and love are never sold.<\/p>\n

They are the priceless things in life for which no one can pay,
\nAnd the giver finds true happiness in giving them away.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (09.02.14) Salt adds flavour to food and keeps it from going bad. Light brightens up the world, and shows people the way. In today\u2019s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples that they are to be like … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archdiocese-of-liverpool"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5923"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5924,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5923\/revisions\/5924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stbedesclaytongreen.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}