5th Sunday in Ordinary Time February 8, 2026

Readings: Isaiah 58:7-10 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Matthew 5:13-16

At the heart of our Christian faith must be an awareness that Jesus loves us and has died for us and that our lives are totally changed because of that. When we begin to believe that our lives are changed, then our actions also begin to change. It is not an awareness that somehow, we are perfect from here on out. That is foolishness. But we are saved by the Lord and we are loved. The more we become aware that we are saved and we are loved, the more we are able to love others—and then truly others can see salt and light at work within us!

We are invited to live our faith, to do good works, to show the light of Christ to the world by the way that we live. And that way of living must always begin with the people who are in our life right now. We forget that every time we do some act of love, we are the light of Christ and the salt of the earth. God invites us to recognize that by our faith and by our baptism, we have been changed entirely. We have life in a new way and it is divine life, the life of God Himself, given to us as gift.

Daily we have countless opportunities to be light for others, to be salt for the world, bringing the taste and flavor of God into our ordinary world. For instance, when others are angry and we are able to be present, living and calm, what a grace of God is present in the situation! Or when there is a tragedy and we are able to be present with love and with help, another grace of God is present. But even when we just help a sister or a brother with a task they find difficult or impossible, the divine life is present in a special way.

We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves. We only need to be present to others in a very quiet and loving way. God is present and give God glory. We can decrease even as God increases. Let us give God glory today and commit ourselves once again to living divine life in our ordinary daily lives.

Fr. Terry