The auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Managua, Monsignor Silvio José Báez, launched a strong message in his Sunday homily from exile. The cardinal focused his message on light and salt, the biblical passages of the gospel according to Saint Matthew 5: 13-14, where Jesus calls people to be the “light of the world” and “salt of the earth.”
«In a society dominated by cannibalism, violent irrationality and the cruelty of power, we are “salt of the earth” when we are authentic and incorruptible, when we introduce compassion and kindness, when we cry with those who cry, we sow hope and are factors of unity and not disintegration,” he said.
The hierarch explained that superficial believers, with dull hearts and a mediocre life, can never be the light of the world. He pointed out that when we live according to the “spirit of the beatitudes” we do not have pretensions to greatness or ambitions for power or money, incapable of attacking or offending.
Related news: Monsignor Báez regrets that Nicaragua is run by “a gang of criminals disguised as politicians”
«Also on a social level there is dense and painful darkness that we must illuminate. The darkness of fear, which paralyzes many and makes them silent accomplices of injustice, we must illuminate with the light of trust in God, in truth and in justice. The darkness of selfishness, of those who think only of their interests or live indifferent to the pain of others, must be illuminated with solidarity, charity and humble service,” said the auxiliary bishop.
“The darkness of the lie, of those who use it as a weapon to dominate and deceive, must be illuminated with the humble announcement of the truth and the courageous denunciation of the falsehoods of the powerful,” he added.
Monsignor Báez affirmed that the “darkness of pessimism” comes when the “expected fruits” are not achieved by fighting for so long, but he encouraged them to “enlighten it by cultivating a purposeful spirit and planting hope in hearts.”
The bishop stated that the darkness of the division does so much damage to achieve the necessary social changes, but that it can be overcome with the ability to listen, with the renouncing of one’s own interests and promoting the dynamics of dialogue and the search for the common good.
«Our darkened society needs the light of the Gospel that transforms, heals and saves those who welcome it. We must make this light shine in the darkness », he argued.
“The Church must prevent the people from becoming fearful”
The cardinal believes that the Church should not be concerned only with communicating “knowing” doctrine, dogmas, commandments, but also with communicating “taste”, hope, joy, consolation. In addition, he assured that the Church “must preserve and care for the people, avoiding that the people become fearful, pessimistic in the face of adversity and passive in the face of injustice.”
He mentioned that Christians become salt of the earth in society when they free themselves from fear, opt for honesty and renounce complicity with the corrupt.
“We become insipid if we allow ideologies to prevail over our faith and if we collaborate with our indifference so that a forced normality imposed by weapons and fear continues to be imposed,” he said.
«We cannot become “insipid”, the Church cannot be “insipid”. We Christians become insipid if we allow fear to make us live with our backs to reality, if we silence the truth in a society dominated by lies, if we allow pessimism to eat away at the hope of the people,” he added.
He concluded by saying: «We are the “salt” of the earth if we remain free in the face of the idols of power or money, which corrupt and produce marginalization… when we do not tire of being in solidarity with those who are victims of unjust power and we do not stop raising our voice for them.
