“that they may see your good deeds”
The last verse in today’s Gospel, Jesus throws down the gauntlet. No longer can we hide our faith, stay the same old same old, or status quo. Christ has demanded us our faith for Him. By choosing Him and following his word, we are called to be the supreme example, a city on a mountain and a lamp set on a lampstand. Jesus tells us that these examples are set up for all to see and “just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” [1]
What are the ‘good deeds’ that Jesus is speaking about here? Jesus is speaking about good deeds of charity since it is in those acts that we glorify God. Acts of charity are supernatural acts, based on faith, wherein God is loved for himself and not for any hope of reward. An act of charity requires divine grace, either sanctifying or actual or both. It is also the normal way of growing in the virtue of charity. [2]
In Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree", the tree is happy in giving even though there is no hope of reward in the giving. In order to live out God’s love, to become the light of the world and the salt of the earth, we are moved to show charity to God and neighbor. When we perform acts of charity with no intention of receiving anything back, we are acting to others as God acts towards us. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” [3] God gives us every good thing and every perfect gift even though we do not merit them and can never repay Him on our own.
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There are many examples of heroic acts of charity in the lives of the Saints. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, for example, was friends with Saint Francis Xavier. When Saint Ignatius found out that Francis’ parents were no longer sending him money for his studies at the university, Ignatius worked a night job to raise extra money. He secretly gave this money to Francis. When Francis discovered that it was Ignatius who was supplying the money, he was so moved by the act of charity that it began a deeper conversion in his life, which eventually led to his own acts of charity as a priest in the Jesuit order.
Can we work our way to Heaven by these ‘good deeds’? The short answer to this question is no, you cannot “work” your way to heaven. We are “saved” by faith, through grace, acted out in love. [4] That love which St. Paul writes about is the acts of charity that Christ tells us not to hide in today’s gospel. If we are truly living in Christ’s light, being salt to the earth and light to the world, then we will be in doing good deeds in our lives. How do we know this? By living Christ’s light, we are doing those things in our lives that God has called us to do. Those deeds that we do are good deeds that, in turn, glorify our heavenly Father. [5] By doing good deeds, we show the world we are Christians and we have the light of Christ shining out from us.
[See also Link to Liturgy Lesson - Once Saved Always Saved?]
In the Gospel a young ruler approaches Jesus and says, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone…’” [6]In this verse Jesus is affirming that He indeed is “good” and that He is God. There is only one “good”, therefore all “good” works are works in union with the one “good”. Any good work we do is in union with the one good work of Christ Jesus. Good works cannot be done apart from Jesus Christ. Do good works save? We can reply to this question as follows. There is only one good, Jesus Christ and His work does save. All good works are in union with His good work and so yes good works save.
Who are the ‘others’ that Jesus refers to when he says, “your light must shine before others”? ‘Others’ refers to those men who either do not yet know of God or do not believe what they have heard. We, as disciples, become the light through whom others come to recognize and acknowledge God. When these men acknowledge God, the unbelieving observer gives glory to Him for His goodness. [7] Therefore, we must lead lives that produce visible signs of goodness for men to see and as a result, desire to know the One from whom we receive this goodness. The use of the verb ‘must’ implies the urgency that we have to complete their mission. As disciples, we are indispensable in the sense that God has appointed us a mission and we must fulfill both for our own salvation and for that of the world.
How do Christians think and act differently than the ‘others,’ Non-Christians? Today, sadly enough we cannot tell the difference many times between a person who claims to be a Christian and the person who says they are a Non-Christian.
What are some thoughts and actions that seem to go against the current of the world? Christians must have a Pro-Life mindset, which includes openness to life from the moment of conception to natural death. This thought and action includes openness to life that excludes contraception. A sacrificial and selfless lifestyle is contrary to the world in which we are encouraged to have more in order to be more. Christians think and act in light of the fact that there is absolute truth and that true is revealed by God. The world says that truth is relative; it depends on the circumstance and the person. This is the heresy of moral relativism. Christians think and act in humility knowing that there is a God and that they are not that God. Many people in the world now think and act in pride and have fallen pray to the heresy of secular humanism. There is no God, no religion, no sin, and no hell. Man is the measure of all things.
What are some good deeds we can do? To start any great journey it begins with a single step. To shine our light for the whole world to see, we must begin with our personal areas of life in which we live and work. If we are outgoing and warm towards others, “They will have greater faith in our deeds than in any other form of speech.” [8] We should be known as “men and women who are loyal, straightforward, truthful, cheerful, hardworking, and optimistic.” [9]
We must be this way not only to strangers and co-workers, but also to our family members. It is easier sometimes to be nicer to complete strangers than it is to our own family. People sometimes say, “I have to love you because you are family,” or sometimes we don’t show as much love to our family members for a whole host of reasons. Whatever the reason may be, our faith and the good deeds of our faith begin in the home. It begins with showing compassion and love to our parents, our children, our siblings, and our extended family; to forgive one another when we have sinned against each other, and grow the family in holiness.
Am I setting the perfect example in my home, work, school, and public places? “I have learned especially that charity should not remain shut up inside our hearts, for men ‘do not light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house.’ It seems to me that this lamp represents charity which should enlighten and brighten not only those people I love most, but all those others who happen to be in the house.” [10]
Pope John Paul II wrote about living out the life of Christ as salt of the earth and light to the world meant living out our mission in life. “Yes, now is the time for mission! In your Dioceses and parishes, in your movements, associations and communities, Christ is calling you. The Church welcomes you and wishes to be your home, and your school of communion and prayer. Study the Word of God and let it enlighten your minds and hearts. Writing to the Christians of Rome, Saint Paul urges them to show clearly that their way of living and thinking was different from that of their contemporaries: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect" (Rom 12:2) [11]
[1] Matthew 5:16
[2] Modern Catholic Dictionary pg. 95
[4] Ephesians 2:8
[5] Matthew 5:16
[6] Luke 18:18
[7] Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, 214
[8] St. John Chryostom, Homilies on St. Matthew’s Gospel, 15, 9
[9] Fernandez In Conversation with God, 34.2
[10] St. Therese of Lisieux, Autobiography of a Soul, IX, 24
[11] Message for the 17th World Youth Day, n. 4