9 February 2026

Jesus describes the Church as both the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  There is a tension between the two images. The work of salt is hidden from view. We benefit from its diffusion but we cannot see what it is doing. Once it has done its work, we cannot reverse it, separate it from bread, bacon or soil!

This is in contrast to the image of light which is clearly seen. Whilst both describe the Church, we are on safer ground embracing the image of salt and work which is hidden from view. This is evident in the corporate activity of the Church. The outcome belongs to everyone and it’s  often not possible to unravel who was responsible for which outcome. Like salt, we cannot trace it.

With light, we are on more dangerous territory. The limelight is attractive to the leader, the celebrity, the politician, the musician. What about the Christian? The work of the Church is to be seen in the sense of illuminating the life of Christ within us.

It is not to illuminate our life, our gifts, our contribution, our part in the life of the church. Clearly, there is a tension between the two images, the hidden and the seen work of the Church. St. Paul describes the Gospel as ‘not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age’. It is different.

He also describes God’s wisdom as ‘secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory’. This is the hidden wisdom which can only be discerned through the power of the Holy Spirit. ’No one comprehends what is truly human except the Spirit of God.’

When the Pope met the young Orthodox priests he quoted one of their own patriarchs. ‘I am disarmed of the need to be right, to justify myself by judging others. I am engaging in the hardest war namely the war against myself.’  This spiritual warfare takes place in that tension between salt and light, hidden work and celebrated outcomes.