GOSPEL MEDITATION - ENCOURAGE DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCRIPTURE

February 8, 2026

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 5:13-16

I recently learned why zebras have stripes. Scientists used to think it was for camouflage, but new research suggests something more interesting: the stripes help zebras blend in with one another. When a predator looks at a herd, the overlapping stripes make it hard to single out one animal. But if a researcher spray-paints a dot on just one zebra, predators lock on it and eventually attack. The lesson? In the wild, blending in is protection. Standing out can be dangerous.

Human beings are not so different. Most of us would rather blend in than stand out, especially when it comes to our faith. We know that giving bold witness to Jesus — through our words, values, or public choices — can make us targets for criticism, isolation, or judgment. That’s why Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are so challenging: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).

A city on a hill draws attention. It also draws fire. But that’s part of the cost of discipleship. Jesus doesn’t call us to be tribal or boastful. He calls us to stand in the open with humble confidence, so that people might see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven. Today, let’s ask for the courage not just to believe in Christ, but to be seen believing in him.

— Father John Muir

(PRACTICING) CATHOLIC - RECOGNIZE GOD IN YOUR ORDINARY MOMENTS

By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman



Be Salty

I want you to close your eyes. Are they closed? (I’m serious.) Okay. Now think of the greatest saint in history.

I don’t care who you’re thinking of. It’s going to be different for everyone. Just think of that person. Think of his or her life. And answer the question: Why is he or she a great saint?

You’re all thinking of different people, but the answer is the same for everyone. And it’s not “Because he did great things for God” or “Because she sacrificed everything she had for the poor.” Those answers show evidence of the reason. But the reason is something more.

The greatest saints in history were not great at holiness. God brought holiness about within them because (ding ding ding! Here’s the answer!) the greatest saints in history were great at being who they were meant to be.

Not who they wanted to be. Not who they thought they should be. Who they were meant to be.

Simply put, they gave themselves to God. All of themselves. Flaws and all. And God took them, in their totality, and said: “Now watch this.”

Just imagine if salt was ashamed of being salty. Imagine if it looked at the sodium content on its nutrition label and thought, “That’s embarrassing,” and decided it was going to stop being salt. Well, great. Now it’s just a box of tiny rocks.

Wouldn’t it have been better for the salt to trust the baker using it?

There is a plan for each of us. There is a path to holiness for each of us. This path doesn’t bypass our flaws or our weaknesses; it incorporates them. It transforms them. It fulfills them.

So be salty. Be who you were meant to be.