Please note: The reflections and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and are shared in the spirit of personal faith and contemplation. They do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Diocese of Palmerston North.
Sue Jones is a lifelong Catholic from Napier who has been writing for Catholic publications like the Marist Messenger and NZ Catholic since the late 1980s. In this reflection, she uses the metaphor of breadmaking to explore the spiritual journey toward holiness, drawing on the experiences of lay people and, at times, mothers within the Catholic tradition.
In St. Matthew’s Gospel, after Jesus has unfolded the Beatitudes for the crowds, he tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth. He warns them that if salt loses its flavour, it becomes useless and is trampled underfoot.
Salt is an important ingredient in breadmaking. It acts upon the yeast, controlling it and slowing down the rising of the dough. Salt also strengthens the gluten in the flour, making it stronger. Salt thus shapes and flavours the dough, giving it strength, integrity, and colour.
Catholic life is generally like this. We live our sacramental lives in community, giving each other strength. We control our lives to fit in with others and with our inherited Tradition and beliefs, serving in ways that generally suit us. Often, Catholics can feel that this good, “Christlike” life is being trampled underfoot by rising secularity.
The bread maker who reflects prayerfully on this text may be prompted to knead some Gospel shape and colour into his or her doughy sacramental life. Reflecting prayerfully on this text, a person finds the Gospel unlike a recipe. Jesus does not give exact measurements of salt to season an already good life. He tells disciples, through the Beatitudes, what beautifully salted lives look like. He asks a disciple to step out of the crowds.
For the bread maker, heeding Christ’s prompt is like deciding to make sourdough bread in addition to the routine daily bread. This salty decision demands more from a person: more precious time, a different way of knowing, a different kneading technique, growing experience in reading the rising process, more careful handling of the dough, and acceptance of failure as part of the process.
Journeying towards beatitude—towards holiness—in Catholic life can be like this. It can be quite particular in nature, feeling somewhat like a vocational call. Unsurprisingly, here is our lovely God intervening in the life of the Church at this specific time, calling the laity to prayer—calling mothers particularly to know his Son better, to nurture his fragile presence in the world.
A beatific journey begins in earnest when the bread maker realizes that Jesus Christ pulls no punches. He is not saying a holy life should be like salt; he is saying a disciple is the salt of the earth. Living the difference means moving a good Catholic life from being “Christlike” towards a life that resembles metaphor more than simile.
The bread maker knows there are easier ways to serve, to shelter in what is known. Yet he or she feels the pull of the Gospel to be stronger, richer in its offerings for the sort of life that matters at the end of the day.
At the heart of this salty, Gospel life is the supreme service to humankind first undertaken by Mary. Today, mothers willingly undertake this service for the sake of the Gospel coming alive in every generation. This somewhat hidden, unheralded, beautiful life is simply love lived for Love’s sake.