At Mass in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, Pope invites South Sudanese Christians to be salt, to flavor the country “with the fraternity of the Gospel”; beautiful.
(Vatican News Network)You are to be “salt of the earth”, “spread and dissolve generously, flavoring South Sudan with the fraternity of the Gospel”; you are to be “a shining Christian community” that “casts the light of good on all” . When Pope Francis presided over mass in South Sudan on the morning of February 5, he used these words to encourage the country’s believers. On the morning of that day, more than 100,000 believers gathered joyfully at the John Gallant Cemetery to attend the Mass officiated by the Pope. The service was attended by Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Church of Scotland leader Iain Greenshields and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
This is the last event of the pope’s pastoral visit. “In the name of Jesus and in the name of his Beatitudes”, the Pope called on all to lay down “the weapons of hatred and revenge” and resort instead to prayer and charity, to sprinkle the “salt of forgiveness” on the wounds. Can cause burning pain, but can make it heal.
The Pope began his homily with the second reading on Sunday (cf. 1 Cor 2:1-5), showing that he, like the Apostle Paul, among them “knows nothing but Jesus Christ, which Jesus Christ crucified”. Christ is “the God of love” who “brought peace through his cross”.
The Pope came to the faithful in South Sudan to proclaim Jesus Christ to them, to make them steadfast in Jesus Christ, “because to proclaim Christ is to proclaim hope”. “He actually knows your distress and expectations, the joy and hard work of your life, the darkness that oppresses you, and your faith that looks to heaven. Jesus knows you and loves you.” In Christ we need not be afraid, for our crosses will also become resurrections, sorrows will become hopes, and lamentations will become dances.
The pope then explained the imagery in the Gospel of “the salt of the earth, the light of the world”. First of all, salt is a symbol of wisdom, a virtue that is “invisible but makes life tasteful”. Immediately after Jesus explained the Beatitudes to his disciples, he mentioned the image of salt. “We thus understand that the Beatitudes are the salt of the Christian life,” said the Pope. “We must remember: if we practice the Beatitudes, if we live out the wisdom of Jesus, we not only give our lives, It also adds good taste to society and the country we live in.”
Another use of salt is to prevent food spoilage. Therefore, in the time of Christ, a little salt was added to every sacrifice to the Lord. This act reminds people that “the first thing is to protect the relationship with God, because God is faithful to us and his covenant with us is indestructible, inviolable and enduring”. The disciples of Jesus are “witnesses of the covenant”, which we celebrate in every Mass.
“We are called to bear witness to our covenant with God with joy and gratitude, by presenting ourselves as people who forge friendship relationships, who live out fraternity, who cultivate good relationships, thereby preventing the sin of sin. Corruption, the disease of division, the pollution of wickedness, the plague of injustice.”
The pope thanks South Sudanese Christians “for being the salt of the earth in this country” and invites them to look at the salt when they feel “small and powerless” in the face of violence and sin. This small ingredient dissolves in the meal, but because of this “all food tastes”. As disciples of Christ, “we cannot back down, because without that little part, our little molecule, everything loses its flavor”. We have to start from this smallness, which can change history.
The second image Jesus uses is that of light. “We have received the light of Christ and become luminous, radiating the light of God,” the Pope emphasized. And, Jesus exhorts us not to let our lamps go out. “Before we worry about the darkness around us, before we expect something to shine around us, we ourselves should radiate light, illuminating with our lives and our actions the cities and villages and places where we live and where we come and go. people, the activities we promote.”
Jesus encourages us to ignite the fire of love, not to let our light go out, and life does not lack the oxygen of love. South Sudan, a “wonderfully beautiful but suffering” land, needs everyone’s light.
The Pope concluded by saying: “I wish you to be the generously sprinkled and dissolved salt that flavors South Sudan with the fraternity of the Gospel; a bright Christian community that, like the cities on high, brings good to good. The light shines on all, showing that it is good and possible to give freely, to hold hope, and to work together to build a future of reconciliation.”
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