Daily Gospel Reflection for June 12, 2018

Today's Gospel: Matthew 5:13-16 “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” The Gospel reading today gives us the ever-familiar metaphors of the salt of the earth, the city set on a mountain, and the light under a bushel basket. Many a lovely homily has likely been given on these as examples of ineffectual use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is shown to be a warning against receiving a great grace and not using it properly.. Knowing our gifts is important, but reflecting on the Gospel passage today what struck me the most was that those who see “your good deeds will glorify your heavenly Father”. So, it isn’t just about knowing and using your gifts, but most importantly, it is that you use your gifts to give glory to God, to bring other people closer to God. What is the motivation behind the things that you do? Do these things need to be examined? It can be easy to be working on a ministry that appears to be a good work, using your talents to serve others, but be lured into the trap of being motivated by pride. Instead, we should be motivated to do something so that God might be glorified, not so that we might be glorified.