Today's Gospel reading comes right after the Beatitudes with which we began our readings from Matthew yesterday. It would be possible to think that keeping the Beatitudes is something that concerns our own religious lives only. What today's reading emphasises is that living the Gospel must be done publicly. It is a way of life not just for me or for us Catholics but for everyone without exception. So Jesus piles one image after the other. We are to be salt, giving taste to our society. Tasteless salt is a contradiction and is useless. We are to be the light of the world, just as Jesus elsewhere said he was the Light of the World. We are to be a city perched on top of a mountain, visible for miles and impossible to hide. We are to be a light on a lampstand, not hidden under a bucket. This is an essential element of being Christian - not just being personally "in a state of grace" but being a visible living out of the teaching of Jesus. An anonymous, private Christian is a contradiction in terms.