Mt 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its savor, with what shall it be salted?”
“You,” he says, “are the salt of the earth; you are the seasoning of human beings. By your instruction others ought to be formed, by your wisdom taught, and by your patience brought into harmony. But if the salt has lost its savor—that is, if the preacher has lost his strength, if he has given himself over to luxury and vanity—then with what shall it be salted? With what shall the people be seasoned?
“It is no longer good for anything except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men.” For salt that has become tasteless is cast outside; likewise a false preacher and his doctrine, which is without savor and useless, are expelled from the Church. And he is trampled underfoot by men because he is worthy to be held in contempt by all.
Mt 5:14 “You are the light of the world.”
For what the sun and the moon provide for the body, that the Apostles and teachers provide for the soul. The former illumine the eyes of the body; the latter illumine the eyes of the mind. Therefore those are the light of the world who illuminate the greater and better part of the world. “A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden.” Thus are the Apostles and bishops set over the Church, as upon a mountain. They cannot be hidden: they sit in a higher place, and the eyes of all are directed toward them. If they are beautiful—that is, if they preserve the dignity and beauty of their office—they are revered by all, admired by all, and praised by all.
Mt 5:15 “Nor do they light a lamp and place it under a bushel, but upon a lampstand, so that it may give light to all who are in the house.”
For this reason a lamp is lit: that it may give light. For this reason a bishop is ordained: that he may illumine others. The lamp, then, is the bishop; the light is the grace of the Holy Spirit or evangelical preaching; the lampstand is the Church. Therefore, let him who is placed upon the lampstand of the Church take care not to place under a bushel the grace of the Holy Spirit by which he has been illumined. Let him take care lest he bury in the earth the talent entrusted to him. For it is written: “Hidden wisdom and a concealed treasure—what profit is there in either?” Hence also the one who hides grain is cursed by the people.
Mt 5:16 “So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
“You are light,” he says, “and you must shine both by word and by deed. Yet you accomplish more by acting than by speaking, because the splendor of action is greater than that of speech. Therefore he does not say, ‘that hearing your good words they may glorify your Father,’ but what does he say? ‘That seeing your good works they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.’”
CONTINUE top right hand
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