Beginning this week, the Hartford Catholic Biblical School Blog will regularly begin posting a link to Zenit's lectionary-based biblical reflections, "Words Made Flesh." These weekly reflections come from Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, Chief Executive Officer of Salt and Light Television, Canada’s first national Catholic Television Network. Fr. Rosica holds advanced degrees in Theology and Sacred Scripture from Regis College in the Toronto School of Theology, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem.
This Sunday's gospel teaches us that we, as disciples of Christ, are called to be "salt" and "light" for the world. And here in this New England winter, you and I are likely to think about how salt clears ice from our roadways. But, of course, Jesus had something else in mind altogether.
Here's one piece of what Fr. Rosica teaches us this week about "salt" in Jesus' time and culture:
In the ancient Aramaic and Hebrew languages spoken by Jesus, one word meant both 'clay-oven' and 'earth.' Instead of using wood to fuel fires, the young people of the village would gather dung, mix it with salt, form it into patties and let it dry in the hot Middle Eastern sun. A slab of salt was placed at the base of the oven and the salted dung patty was laid upon it. The salt from the slab worked as a catalytic, causing the dung to burn. But, after a certain time, the salt slab loses its catalytic ability and becomes useless. This is what Jesus was referring to in Matthew's gospel when he says: 'It (salt) is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot' (5:13).
