Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Sister Michela Sheehan, SNDdeN

February 5, 2023

Matthew 5: 13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world.”

When Jesus was speaking to his followers and all those close enough to hear, the world was different – at least in my thoughts.

Try this if you wish… Read the message from Matthew, then let the words surround you…

Go inside the message and think about folks you know who are some of the millions in our world who do all that Jesus suggested…

…some who reach out to feed, comfort, care in simplicity not looking out be noticed or remembered or thanked…

…those whose response is immediate and just a part of each day…

Stay and be aware of many of these millions…

We learn from TV, news, neighbors everywhere…

For example, in a part of the country affected by storms, wind, rain and snow we read of a man who had a car and some gasoline. He noticed folks on the roadside who were out of gas and had no place to stay. He took them into his car, knocked on several doors and arranged a place where these people could sleep and he paid for them….

This Jesus event reflecting Matthew’s Gospel gives another view of the world we live in.

Let us pray we will be open to respond as Jesus speaks to us.

Matthew 5: 13-16

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
The Gospel of the Lord

Meet Sister Michela Sheehan, SNDdeN

Sister Michela Sheehan, SNDdeN is the ninth child of thirteen children, born to an Irish Catholic family in Eureka, CA. She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on Valentine’s Day in 1954. Sr. Michela has had a lively and varied life in Notre Dame: teaching/administration in California, Washington State and Oregon. In the United States, she was a Foster Mother for medically fragile infants in the San Francisco Bay Area, and an administrator of a home for homeless women and children in East Los Angeles. She worked also with our Sisters in Notre Dame schools in Nigeria and South Africa. Sr. Michela now volunteers at Ose Adams Medical Pavilion and Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center in Sacramento, CA and helps at River City Food Bank. She would say about her religious life: “All continues to be a grace-filled life.”