Today’s gospel reading presents a monumental challenge to us. (Mt. 5: 13-16) It begins with a compliment that one could consider as a “hook” (as in: “Be careful not to get hooked into something you can’t do”) but when we hear Jesus say: “You are the salt of the earth!”, it’s hard not to get puffed up and think we can do anything. It’s the same when we hear: “You are the light of the world!” The difficulty comes with reading the second part of each of those declarations of Jesus. Look back and see if you don’t feel deflated occasionally when you’re having a bad day and you hear about salt losing its taste or light set under a bushel basket unable to be seen…
I suggest we look at both of the full statements as the words of a cheerleader instead. “Come on!” Jesus says. “You can do it! Shine! You are such a brilliant light! Just keep going! Keep trying! Be the light you want to see in the world! Shine! Shine! Shine!”
Here’s a little quote from Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation that needs to be breathed out one clause at a time to give us a whole day of reflection. See where it takes you.
The saint whose feast is celebrated today is known only as one mentioned in the list of the original twelve apostles; nothing else is known about him. The Franciscan media commentary says that we are confronted with the fact that we know almost nothing about most of the apostles. Bartholomew certainly fits that description. There’s even a question if Bartholomew is the man who was also known as Nathaniel, a man from Cana in Galilee who was summoned to Jesus by Philip. As Franciscan Father Don Miller points out, however, the unknown ones were also pillars of the new Israel whose 12 tribes now encompass the whole earth…bearing tradition from their firsthand experience by sharing the “good news” of Jesus throughout the known world.
The verse before the gospel today was encouraging. From Paul’s letter to the Philippians, it urges us to shine like lights in the world as you hold on to the word of life. (2:15D, 16A) Thinking about my day yesterday with a group of parish faith formation leaders, some of whom who are wrapping up a challenging year in their churches, I was happy to reflect on their willingness to live in the reality of their experiences while still fanning the flame of hope in their hearts. The day was not an intensive, content-heavy experience but rather offered them some simple practices for everyday life that also included a brief nature walk and some poetry. The important element, as I saw it, was simply their presence together in community with no expectations except the support of one another. It was clear to me that they are, indeed, “lights in the world.”
As we wake to a new year, I can share no better words than those of the Book of Numbers (Ch. 6) from today’s lectionary texts as a blessing for going forward in faith.
Needing someone else’s words this morning to speak for me, I turned (not surprisingly) to my friend, Jan Phillips. In her book, 
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 