We Gather Strength As We Go

 

Hiddenness, evoked by images of salt, light, and yeast (Mt. 5,13-16), highlights an outreach underlined by silence. They recall our mundaneness and challenge us to re-evaluate it: not to ignore it but to use it to deepen our understanding of faith.  

The silence highlighting this reappraisal expresses a gained restfulness, reminding us of Vigil’s “vires acquirit eundo” (We gather strength as we go), which I identify with the Shabbat-Shalom: a gained restfulness beyond the clatter that conditions our hearts. 

Whether superfluous words, disinformation, witnessed injustices or life’s crests and troughs, we are reminded to stop and think: to set our minds on things that are above (Colossians 3,2) and focus on Christ (Romans 12,2) so that renewed in our attitudes (Ephesians 4,23), we align our hearts to “whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable” (Philippians 4,8). 

We gather strength by guarding our hearts, for everything we do flows from it (Proverbs 4,23). So doing, we realise that very little is needed to make oneself happy: it is all within one’s heart because “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt.6,21). 

Martin


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