Salt and Light of the World

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.

You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
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Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.

Mt 5:14

​Is there any way to hide a mountain under a cloth or an elephant into a fridge? Of course, there are cases, if the cloth or the fridge is big enough or the mountain or the elephant is small enough. But these situations would not have happened without conditions.
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In my observation, in our modern days, we are trying to hide a mountain every day. Which mountain am I talking about? The Love of God.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

Jn 3:16

The roots of this reflection are found in a conversation with a friend, who told me that for Finnish people, their religion is a personal and private issue, something that people prefer to speak about only in the privacy of their home. I replied that such an attitude is impossible for a Catholic, that we cannot have our faith as a personal matter only.

After baptism, all of us, receive our vocations to be king, priest, and prophet. How can we be a king, without showing our throne, a priest without priesly behaviour or a prophet without preaching? Maybe... But no, unfortunately, there is no way to make things possible without really doing things.
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My Catholic faith influences my daily life, from housework to making a decision in my work. It's not something I take out to show only when I'm in church. Being Catholic doesn't mean we are better than others - in fact, it should be the other way around: we should serve others.

Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mt 5:14

I used to be prejudiced about the Catholic Church, until one day I had the opportunity to pepper a Catholic friend with a million questions. After that I changed my mind. Why can not we do the same with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience?

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Col 3:12

Many times, we are afraid of giving the wrong answer. But we can always try to answer and the Spirit will help us to illuminate others when we make ourselves available as tools for that :)

When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say.

Lk 12:11-12

Here I leave you a challenge. Next time, when you are introducing yourself to new friends, say you are Catholic after your name. Let's see how people react! Please, go and share your joy from and with God!

This picture is from our last youth gathering. Father Peter and Father Jean-Claude were playing with our group, and there were also other young people around, and they were amazed when they realized that they are both priests. But being a priest does not mean being boring, and neither does being Catholic mean that! 

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About the author

Yiran, or Maria Micaela. Born in China as a Protestant Christian but baptised in Spain (2015), being the only Catholic in the family. I came to Turku as an Erasmus exchange student and I stayed for my MSc studies. I'm also a participant of the Youth Weekends at Stella Maris. 
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Cooking, running and photography are my hobbies.