From the top of a mountain everything looks better, the bottom and the top. That’s why many hermitages and many temples of other religions are located on hillocks. There it seems that God is closer, far away from the ups and downs of the world and we are more able to see clearly the whole of our life. Because, when we are down there, the trees do not let us see the forest.
In today’s readings, both the first reading and the Gospel talks about a mountaintop. At the top of Mount Moriah Abraham meets the angel of the Lord, that is, the Lord himself. God asked Abraham to be totally available for his will. The idea of how God could ask for the sacrifice of his son must not carry us away. It is the literary style, the way of speaking of Abraham’s total availability that the writer of that time chose so that the people of his time would understand the message. Today we would have expressed it differently. Therefore, let us move from the surface to the central content of the message: Abraham is totally available to God’s will, he trusts in it totally, and therefore God gives him his blessing for him, for his descendants, and ultimately for all the peoples of the earth. And God’s blessing cannot mean more than the promise of life.
Also on the top of a mountain the transfiguration of Jesus takes place before his apostles. There, far from the crowds, perhaps in a moment of encounter and profound dialogue, was how the apostles were able to see clearly who Jesus was and his relationship to Jewish traditions—hence the presence of Elijah and Moses. And that, when they told it years later, they explained it by saying that Jesus had been transfigured before them. They had looked upon him in the light of God himself and had experienced — listened to — the voice of God which said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him”.
For Abraham of the Old Testament and for the three apostles who went up with Jesus, the experience of climbing a mountain was decisive. Perhaps this Lent will be our opportunity for us to climb some mountain as well, to look for some time when we can get away from the daily commotions of life. There we will find, first of all, silence. Let the silence of God come into our hearts to identify the areas not in conformity with God’s plans. There we will find the strength to try a change, because we have a God who never abandons us. Because, as the second reading says, “If God is with us, who will be against us?”
For your reflection
Will we have time this Lent to find a little silence every day or once a week? Perhaps that can be our particular mountain where we meet God’s blessing and begin
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
