Mark 9:50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

What does peace between people have to do with salt? According to the covenant they made with God, the ancient Israelites are to offer all things to God with salt (see Leviticus 2:13). These offerings of food with salt should look to us not only like a religious ritual but also an act of hospitality, particularly of table fellowship. To "have salt in yourselves" could mean to act in community according to this notion of covenant and hospitality - to be at peace because we are in hospitable friendship with one another.

We may not always think of being at table together, of sharing meals, as an activity in peacemaking or community building, but they often have this function in our society. There is an ancient custom in many parts of the world where bread and salt are offered in welcome or to cement an alliance. Whether it is a holiday dinner, a church potluck or a diplomatic banquet for heads of state, "having bread and salt between us" express the desire for friendship and collaboration as a community. Here, Jesus calls us to put aside our division, to "have salt" and make peace.

-Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

2 Kings 2:20-21 He said, "Bring me a bowl of water, and put salt in it," So they brought it to him. Then he went to the spring of water and threw salt in it and said, "Thus says the Lord, I have healed the water...."

Ancient rituals of baptism recall this even older rite of purification performed by the prophet Elisha - by casting salt over the springs of water, Elisha calls upon God to "heal" the water. The images brought together here, purifying salt and life-giving springs of water, resonate through the pages of Scripture and call us to attend to our Christian vov=cation both spiritually and materially. What "bad water" might we be called to help purify? Or where can we see potential to make the land fruitful once more?

We may also be reminded of the literal and very real challenge of polluted and deadly waterways all over the world. Many people worldwide, especially poor and marginalized people, experience difficulty accessing clean and safe water. "Casting salt" over these waters and over future waters requires attending to creation and the poor just as God does. The Lord hears the cry of the poor; blessed be the Lord.

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Salt is a multilayered metaphor in the Bible. Salt is used to purify, preserve and season. It is also an implement of punishment and cursing (Lot's wife becomes a pillar of salt, a victorious ar "salts the earth" and so on). Jesus calls his audience the "salt of the earth" and cautions that flavorless salt is good for nothing but being gravel. As hearers of Matthew 5:13 now, how are we to receive these words?

In the very next verse, Jesus uses metaphors of light that cannot be hidden - while salt can be used as punishment, Jesus seems here to be calling us to be a flavorful and preservative presence. St. Augustine once wrote in praise of God, "Thou hast put salt on our lips, that we may thirst for Thee." As a flavorful presence, we season and preserve the world if we possess the Beatitudes Jesus mentions in his Sermon on the Mount, and these same traits might also provoke thirst for the things of God that Jesus has mentioned earlier in the sermon (the thirst for righteousness). Today, we may think about whether we ourselves are truly "salt of the earth" and about those in our lives who might be whetting our thirst for the things of God.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Luke 24:30-31 - When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

The last few days, we read about how God accompanied the ancient Israelites and provided them with mann in the desert. Here, in this story of the Emmaus Road from the New Testament, disciples find themselves coming alongside a fellow traveler, a companion on their journey. As they walk, their new companion explains to them the meaning of the events they recount. Then, when they sit down for the evening, he breaks bread with them, and they realize in that bread-breaking moment it is Jesus, their teacher.

"Companion" comes from the Latin words meaning "with" and "bread." It is one with whom we break bread. On the road to Emmaus, Christ gives the Bread of the Word to the disciples as well as the Bread of the Table that he takes, blesses, breaks and shares. In offering us the Bread of Life, Christ has become our companion. Emmanuel is with us, even as we anticipate his coming. In this time of "already but not yet," we pray that we will invite him, as these disciples did, to stay with us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

John 6:32-33 - Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

When things seemed grim for the Israelites, God sent manna from heaven to sustain them on their sojourn in the desert. Here, in what is often called the Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life come from heaven to give life to the world.

Ancient Christians tell us that the "bread of heaven" is nothing other than the Word of God, which normally sustains the angels and has become foor for us in the Incarnation. A mother nursing her infant is an apt metaphor. We cannot eat the food of heaven as we are but infants not ready for the solid food. This food must first be made milk. The food is made milk for us only by passing through the flesh. The metaphor here is saturated with an excess of meaning, and Christians have pondered this to great lengths, but the important thing is that the Word of God, by whom the angels are sustained, has become True Bread for us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 78:24-25 ...he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance.

This passage from the Psalms is but one of a half dozen references in the Bible to the story of the manna in the desert. The frequency with which the biblical authors go back to this story tells us that they see it as an important event in God's relationship with Israel: The Lord not only freed the people but nourished them, even when they grumbled and complained.

The grumbling of the Israelites and God's response may remind us of a common scenario between children and parents: Even in lean times, good parents will do all they can to provide for their children, even if those children grumble and complain. Confronted with this story, we are convicted. How are we sometimes like the grumbling Israelites? How has God provided "bread" for us or our community? How can we imitate a God who provides "bread" for even those in our life who seem not to appreciate us? As we journey together through the desert of Advent, how can we practice trust and gratitude for a God who has given us and will give us each day bread from heaven?

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

1 Kings 17:13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.

When Elijah encounters the widow of Zarephath, they both are in the midst of a terrible drought and famine. Elijah, for his part, has been wholly reliant on God, being ministered to by ravens. When God sends him to Sidon, he does not know how he will continue to survive in the drought-stricken land. The widow has resigned herself to the likelihood that she and her son will starve. However, through her hospitality to God's prophet, she discovers what Elijah has already encountered: God's abundant care.

The bread that the widow gives Elijah is all that she has. And yet, she finds that despite, or maybe because of, this radical act of hospitality, she is always able to offer more. Her food stores, though meager, do not run out. The daily bread she bakes for Elijah and her son does not diminish how much she can give. In this way, it is a symbol of love. No loving parent ever runs out of love for their children, just as there is no limit to God's love for us.

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,