Happy Thursday. It’s the ordinary-est of days. It’s the first week back to Ordinary time after weeks of rending our hearts, weeks of feasting and rejoicing during Easter, and that great feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit breathed new life into the Church. What is there now in this long stretch of ordinary time, besides a few holy days of obligation?
There is salt and there is holiness in the mundane, in the smallest and most ordinary tasks of each day. This is the time when the fruits of the previous seasons ought to be visible. Now is when the “salt” makes great saints out of us in our ordinary lives.
Salt, this simple and inexpensive seasoning, had a profound effect in the spiritual life of the Jews. In Biblical times, the people used salt to purify, preserve, and even as covenantal signs. (see Numbers 18:19) Jesus speaks of salt to remind His disciples of the extraordinary qualities of this ordinary seasoning, to illuminate for them that the actions of the heart are like spiritual salt. “Keep salt in yourselves, and you will have peace with one another.” (Mark 9:50) Our words, actions, and faithfulness are the salt our souls need to make our human relationships extraordinary.
Both of the readings by Saint James and Saint Mark remind us that we are living in greed and sin in misery, and will continue to do so if we do not rid our lives of it. Rather than storing up earthly treasure which will rot away, and rather than facing the unquenchable fire due to our sins, Jesus wants us to know that even the simplest acts can gain Heaven for us! Acts as ordinary as offering water to our sister in need, offering our time to listen, our talents in hospitality, our prayers of thanksgiving and petition. . . each one is like salt. Like grace. Each kind act done in love will increase our peace with one another.
Pass that salt, sisters. It’s good for the soul.
Are you looking for more soul-inspiration about making the ordinary holy? Read something by Saint Josemaria Escriva. “There is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it . . . There is no other way, my daughters . . . either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or we shall never find him.” (from the 1967 homily “Passionately Loving the World”)
Jesus wants us to know that even the simplest acts can gain Heaven for us!Click to tweet
Notice how kind acts increase peace in your relationships today. Commit to a kind act for each person in your day. See how it changes you!
Gina Fensterer is a Colorado native at heart, but the West Coast beach life suits her just fine. She currently lives in small coastal area of California with her husband and six children. She loves the Jesus prayer, coffee at any time of day, homemade salsa, photography, and sleepy toddler snuggles. You can find out more about her here.
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