A homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, February 8, 2026
Isaiah 58:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Matthew 5:13-16
A few weeks ago, just as Jack Frost started to flex his icy tentacles, the big story in the news was the shortage of salt.
After years of mild winters, many towns’ stockpiles of road salt ran low or completely out. And because recent demand for rock salt had been so-so, several suppliers had cut back on production. It didn’t make sense to manufacture stuff nobody was buying.
Then — whoosh! — the polar vortex and below-zero wind-chill factors and cross-country monster snow-and-ice storms came roaring down from The Great White North. And many of us weren’t getting out of our driveways onto streets that were barely passable anyway.
When we did, we found ourselves at the end of lines at hardware stores that announced they’d just received a shipment of ice melter. Which sold out in minutes. Often while we were still in line, hoping. Sigh.
Salt has a lot more going for it than flavor.