As you already know, we are currently in Year A of the Liturgical Year. The Sunday Gospel for this particular Year is the Gospel according to St. Matthew. Matthew’s Gospel was written during the second half of the first century in order to encourage the small and fragile communities of converted Jews who lived in the region of Galilee and Syria. They suffered persecution and threats from their Jewish brethren who saw them as traitors for accepting and believing Jesus as the true Messiah. In order to ground them in their faith, the Gospel of Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is really the Messiah and that the salvation which Jesus brings is not only for the Jews, but also for all people of all races and cultures. The readings for this weekend, present this universal salvation to us as a divine initiative.  
 
          In the gospel, the news of the arrest and imprisonment of John the Baptist compels Jesus to immediately take up the torch of the Gospel, the Good News of Salvation. Jesus continued exactly from where John had stopped. John had said: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt.3:2). So Jesus continued with the same message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17). In other words, the preaching of the Gospel entails risks but Jesus did not allow himself to be frightened and intimidated. Besides, nobody has the capacity to quench the light of truth or drown the power of the Good News! In this way, Matthew encourages these Jewish Christian communities which were running the same risk of persecution for their faith.  
 
          Additionally, Matthew quotes the text of Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shone.” Matthew makes it clear that the light of Christ which shines in “Galilee of the Gentiles” shines also outside the frontiers of Israel. Jesus is light not only to the Jews but also to the non-Jews. He is light for all. Like Jesus, these communities were invited to be light for others. This invitation is equally true for Christians of all denominations. In other words, all Christians are called to reach out to others in their need, to bring consolation to the housebound, to be voice for the voiceless and to bring the compassion of the Lord to others. Perhaps the question to ask is, how are you trying to live today, the universality of salvation?