This past Sunday's Gospel, which is part of the Sermon on the Mount, deeply consoles us while at the same time it profoundly challenges us. When we hear Jesus say to us that we are the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city on a mountain, we are elated and uplifted. Yet we are startled, too.

We ask ourselves: do these images really fit us? Do we honestly deserve to be called salt, light, a city? In all candor, we all-too-often are undeserving of these metaphors unless we are faithfully living the nine beatitudes: being poor in spirit; grieving with the sorrowing; acting meekly; thirsting for justice; showing mercy; revealing a pure heart; acting peacefully; being persecuted for righteousness; and suffering persecution for the sake of Jesus. 

When we truly live these beatitudes to our fullest capacity, then those pivotal images begin to make sense in our lives. We begin to recognize that we are salt that has not lost its taste and vigor; we still season the earth. We are still light that illumines the world. We are still a city on a mountain that draws others to Christ and to his Body, the Church. 

Because living the Beatitudes is so demanding, we need periodically to step back and take stock of exactly how our Church is living them. Could it be that Pope Francis is right that we have to go out to the edges of life and be where people are struggling to stay alive and are dealing with the vital issues and problems of life? Is our Church a field hospital, as Francis says it should be, providing care for the sick and the wounded? Or are we more caught up in taking care of ourselves than helping others? Have we lost our sense of mission? Have we become complacent, self-satisfied and incapable of advocating on behalf of the poor? Do we need to ask ourselves "Why are we here? What is our purpose in life?" Could it be that we have created for ourselves a comfort zone such that we cannot imagine ourselves working for justice and peace? What then are the critical issues and questions in our Church, in our parish? Can we say that we really are men and women for others?

Pope Francis, in his reflections about the Gospel this past Sunday to thousands of people who came to hear him in St. Peter's Square put it this way: "We all, as baptized persons, are missionary disciples, and are called to become a living Gospel in the world. By a holy life we bring 'flavor' to many contexts, and like salt we defend them against corruption; and we will bring the light of Christ with our witness of true love."

"But if we Christians lose our 'flavor,' and renounce our presence as salt and light, we lose our effectiveness. The Christian must always be a luminous person, who brings light, who always gives light... A light that is not his or hers, but rather a gift from God, a gift from Jesus."

Thus, in our daily Ignatian examen of consciousness we all have much to ponder and weigh as we ask ourselves whether or not we who are Church are living faithfully the Beatitudes and thus are genuinely the salt, light and city Jesus says we are in the Gospel.