{"id":28658,"date":"2026-01-27T04:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T04:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?p=28658"},"modified":"2026-02-02T04:54:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T04:54:03","slug":"salt-light-hildegard-osb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lectiodivina.com.au\/?p=28658","title":{"rendered":"Salt & Light – Hildegard OSB"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I share with you a reflection on Matthew 5:13-16 from Sr Hildegard Ryan OSB who died last year after a life time dedicated to praying Lectio Divina.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some background to the text, so that we understand its meaning. Matthew has taken early sayings from the Jesus tradition (Mark 9:50; 4:21; Luke 8:16; 11:33; 14:34-35). In doing so he uses the metaphors of salt and light and applies them to the hearers of his sermon which began with the Beatitudes (5:1-12). That was the first part of the sermon. This is the second part (5:13-16). We are further informed that Pliny\u2019s Natural History says: \u201c\u2026nothing is more useful that salt or sunshine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A note on salt: Strictly speaking, salt cannot lose its flavour and remain as salt. But in Judaism it can become unclean and thus would have to be discarded. The message is that salt is both a spice and a preservative and so is a good teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light: Light imagery is applied to God, to Israel, and in the New Testament, to Jesus. Matthew 4:16, Luke 1:79, Luke 2:32, Philippians 2:15, Eph 5:8, all support the Light as applied to Jesus. Verse 16 is described as a delicate balancing act while Matthew wants us to let the light shine, but at the same time, remain humble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stand back from the Gospel and ponder. Visit a quiet corner of a Church which is open for prayer. Hear the words: BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. Allow the Holy Spirit to play on the fibres of your heart like a harpist in order to bring forth the most beautiful melody of your response to God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Ryan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I share with you a reflection on Matthew 5:13-16 from Sr Hildegard Ryan OSB who died last year after a life time dedicated to praying Lectio Divina. Some background to the text, so that we understand its meaning. Matthew has taken early sayings from the Jesus tradition (Mark 9:50; 4:21; Luke 8:16; 11:33; 14:34-35). In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t