Monsignor Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the  Gospel of this Sunday, February 8, 2026,   entitled:  “You are the light of the world.”

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Isaiah 7-10: ” When you share your bread with the hungry, your light will shine in the darkness”

Psalm 111:  “The righteous shine like a light in the darkness”

2 Corinthians 1-5:  “I have proclaimed to you Christ crucified”

Matthew 5:13-16:  “You are the light of the world”

After proclaiming his marvelous Beatitudes far and wide, beatitudes that overturn all the world’s values, Jesus addresses his disciples and gives them a request, a commission they must fulfill in every action: to be salt and light. For our world today, being salt has profound meaning, and with a single image, Christ is already defining his followers. While society languishes in a monotonous routine and loses its sense of purpose, Christ demands much more of his followers: to be salt. Knowing how to give life its flavor will be a defining characteristic of the disciples. For ordinary people, this image is very familiar, and it is easy to grasp all the symbolism and understand that the Gospel infuses energy and gives life a special flavor. However, it would seem that for many, faith has become bland, sour, and rigid, and they have lost the dynamism and enthusiasm to joyfully share the Gospel. There is a constant complaint that the Church has lost its dynamism, its energy, and its vitality. And the aim is not for the Church to accommodate itself to the unbridled modern world, but rather to offer the hope and joy of those who have encountered Christ. One of our current tasks will be to rekindle our faith with the warmth of the Gospel, prayer, and the atmosphere of fraternal community.

But alongside this sense of flavor, to which perhaps the Jewish communities didn’t attach as much importance, we must also recover the other sense that was more significant to them: the preservation of food, which, as a symbol, is translated into fidelity. That is why a  “covenant of salt,”  as proclaimed several times in the Old Testament, is a lasting covenant that ensures the permanence and fidelity of the chosen people, whom God never fails. Therefore, when Jesus affirms that the disciples must be salt, he instructs them to enter the world in covenant with God and to uphold the demands of true justice, which will prevent communities from stagnating in mediocrity and injustice. Small, simple, and humble is salt, but it must give flavor, preserve, and energize all of society. But for this, it needs two very clear conditions: the first is that it cannot be confined within itself, because it will become a lump and produce a terrible taste; and the second is that it must dissolve into the food to impart flavor. The disciple cannot remain closed in on himself because it would harm both the community and the Gospel, and his task consists of “giving himself away” in true service as Isaiah demands in the first reading: “Share your bread with the hungry, open your house to the poor and homeless, clothe the naked and do not turn your back on your brother.”

Works are born of love and are a sign of love. They must manifest love and not be an occasion for prestige or business. To be light is a matter of love, and only in love can one illuminate others. It is not a sign of superiority, nor a sign of wisdom that many would like to adopt, as if they were doing others a favor by enlightening them. No, light springs from within and goes far beyond human wisdom. The light is taken from Jesus himself, who has become the true light that illuminates every person who comes into this world. We, his disciples, can only be light if we receive his light, if we allow ourselves to be ignited by his passion, if we dispel our darkness with his word. Isaiah gives us the clue to being light: “When you renounce oppression and banish from your midst threatening gestures and offensive words, when you share your bread with the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your darkness will become like midday.” The light is alive and committed to the suffering of our brothers and sisters; it is not an artificial light turned on for others to see. It is the light that springs forth from within, spontaneously, like a fountain, because it is filled with love. The works of this light are so tangible that they will always be the touchstone for discerning whether someone is a disciple of the Lord.

Right now, there are many doubts and insecurities, suicides and absurd lives, which we cannot dispel with brilliant ideas but with serious commitments to those who have been reduced to misery and discrimination. There are those who no longer believe in anything and carry their lives with weariness. The disciple can give meaning, flavor, and light to all who are disillusioned. And this begins with those closest to us, because we are willing to be the light of the nations, fighting and demonstrating against foreign wars, but we are not capable of demanding our time and contribution from those who are next to us and in our own homes. We are a lamp to the street and darkness at home. We are spotlights that dazzle and hearts in darkness. This is not how we are true disciples! We complain bitterly about the darkness that reigns in our environment but we are not even capable of lighting a match to dispel the darkness. The commitment is great, and we will have to seriously reflect on how we are being a light in our world, how we are giving meaning and flavor to our lives and the lives of those close to us, and how we are spreading the gospel to those who come to us.

Lord, may your light illuminate our darkness, and may we find meaning and meaning in our lives through the light of your gospel. Amen.