Jesus uses two different examples of a good disciple: salt of the earth and light of the world. While these images seem to have little in common, there are similarities, the most obvious being that a little of either goes a long way. So also, a little faith can make a big difference. The faith of little children can bring their parents back to the Church. The way we live our faith can speak even louder.
Isaiah gives us some hints in the first reading when he writes about feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless and clothes to the poor. But we sometimes get things backwards. If we do the things Isaiah tells the people to do, we might think that the deeds will give us faith. If we truly believe that God lives in the people around us, especially the poor, then we will want to show our love by caring for each other.
But if we don’t have faith, then we are like the salt that has lost its flavor. A low-salt diet may be good for us, but a low-salt faith, instead of making things better, would make them worse. Without faith in God’s love for us, we would not respond with love of our own. We could still be a good person, but we would not be a very good disciple.
Tom Schmidt, Diocesean Publications