I often come across a phrase that says: "change is the only permanent thing in this world." How true is that? Change is constant. It is a life-long process of becoming the person that God calls us to be. Change is necessary for growth. Change brings freedom. 

Those of you who have broken away from bad habits can rightly agree with what I mean when I say it's difficult to break a habit. Changing these habits are very daunting. It's a terrible prison. Some habits are minor and some require inner change - a resolution that needs motivation, will power, encouragement from others and constant perseverance. 

​The gospel today challenges us to walk to freedom by loving our enemies - a change that so many of us need to undertake. With this, and just like with any other bad habit we want to break away from, we need God's grace in order to achieve our goal. Fortunately, God is always willing and ready to help us - there is nothing impossible with God. 

Change is achievable. It is possible. We only need to rely on God's unfailing love and mercy along with believing in ourselves that we can be victors in Christ Jesus. 

The greatest attribute of Jesus is that he is the face of God. When we contemplate Jesus, we contemplate the face of God. The gospel tells us through the words of Jesus things about himself that make us know his person - good shepherd, bread of life, truth, way, life, the vine, the gate and many more. But every time Jesus reveals something about himself, he also reveals something about us: he is the good shepherd, we are the sheep; he is the vine, we are the branches.
 
Today, the gospel reading tells us more about who we are: the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
 
As salt, we are called to preserve and give taste. The problem of the world today is the lack of Christian witness. We lack the preservation of our faith and therefore many people today succumb to the allure of the world and the corruption it provides.  As light, we are to give face to the presence of God in our society that will dispel the darkness that reigns in our world.
 
We are salt, we are light. Let us not loose our flavor and our brightness.The world needs us to give witness to our faith in Christ.