The Mountain

A dear friend of mine, Joyce,  when she needed to take some concern or someone to prayer, would always say, “I am going to the mountain!” One day when we were deep in a spiritual conversation, I asked her why she talked about going to the mountain. She replied, “In the Bible, whenever someone went up a mountain, God was always there.” How true! I knew that, but her response opened my eyes to see more clearly how many times and in how many ways we are called to the mountain.
           
In the Book of Genesis, we read of God calling Abraham to take his son Isaac to Mount Moriah to sacrifice him. This was a heart-wrenching task given to Abraham, for Isaac was his beloved son. What was going through the heart and mind of Abraham? We can only imagine his anguish. His love and obedience for God and his love for his son, Isaac, who was the promise for the future, seemed to be at odds. Yet, Abraham went forward and trudged up the mountain. Part way on their journey up the mountain, Abraham stopped and cut wood for the holocaust (burnt offering) that would be his son Isaac. He laid the wood on Isaac himself. Abraham then took in his hands the knife and the fire for the sacrifice. “And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father.’ And he said, ‘Here am I, my son.’ He said ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ Abraham said ‘God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together” (Gen 22:7-8).  This shows that Isaac did not understand what would happen on the mountain. There was the wood, the knife, and the fire for the burnt offering, but not a victim to be found, it seemed to Isaac.
           
When Abraham and Isaac arrived at the place that God had indicated, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then Abraham bound Isaac and laid him upon the altar. He took out his knife and was about to slay him when an angel called out to him, “Abraham, Abraham” (Gen 22:11). Abraham replied, “Here am I.” The angel replied, “Do not lay your hand on the boy. I know how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son” (Gen 22:12). Abraham looked around and spied a ram caught by his horns in the thicket. He took the ram and offered it as a holocaust in the place of his son. Isaac was saved because God Himself provided the victim for the sacrifice. Abraham, because of his fidelity to God in his willingness to sacrifice his son, is blessed and is promised descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
           
What does this story teach us? Trusting in God’s merciful plan always provides blessings to those who are faithful. Even when we cannot see what God’s plan is or how it could possibly work out, we are called to trust, and God will provide. He will provide what we cannot, and will save us from death.
           
The story of Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain also has another message for us. It is a prefiguring of what God will do to save us. When death was our lot because of sin that was introduced into our world by the Ancient Enemy, our Father sent His only-begotten Son, who became one of us and offered Himself in sacrifice on the Cross to save us. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, so also God our Father was willing to offer Jesus, his Son. The sacrifice of Jesus is the offering that is efficacious and acceptable to the Father, because it is offered in love. Just as Abraham placed the wood for the sacrifice on Isaac’s back, so too, the wood of the Cross was placed on the back of Jesus. Isaac trudged up the mountain with his burden and Jesus walked His sorrowful journey up Calvary. Abraham laid Isaac on the wood that was placed on the altar. Jesus was laid on the wood of the Cross. Isaac was not sacrificed; rather, the ram caught in the thicket was the sacrifice provided by God. Not a ram caught in a thicket, but a lamb, the Lamb of God, Jesus Himself, is the victim for the sacrifice that saves the world. By what the Lord Jesus suffered, the remedy for the poison of sin is given to us! As St. Peter teaches us, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1Pt 2:24).
           
There is another mountain to consider. It is the mount of the Transfiguration. Our Lord takes Peter, James and John up the mountain, where he is transfigured in a marvelous way. “…[H]is clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them” (Mk 9:2-3). With Jesus were Moses, representing the Law, and Elijah, representing the prophets. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Mk 9:5). The three apostles did not know what to say because they were terrified. “Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them: from the cloud came a voice, ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to him.’ And then, as the apostles looked around they saw only Jesus alone with them. Assuredly, the apostles were amazed at what they had experienced. “As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead” (Mk 9:9).
           
On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the divinity of Jesus and the glory of His Resurrection are revealed. Peter, James, and John witnessed that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s revelation to His people Israel. He was the Son of God, and, therefore, God Himself. Jesus’ instruction to them that they were not to tell others about his Transfiguration links this experience to His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. The glory of Christ shown to them proclaims that through His suffering and death on the Cross, His victory will be achieved. By what Jesus does on Calvary, our redemption is accomplished. For, His crucifixion and death are not the end. Rather, they are the beginning of new life for the Lord Jesus and for all the members of His Body, the Church.
           
Dear Brothers and Sisters, God calls us to the mountain every day. When we come to Mass, we come to the mountain. We come to the mountain of Abraham and Isaac, because we bring to the altar all of the worries, concerns, and sorrows of our life. We bring all our prayers and the intentions of our family and others to the Mass. Our trust is in God, even when our situation and that of others seems impossible.
           
We come to Mount Calvary when we come to Mass. At the altar, the one Sacrifice of Jesus Christ is made present in a sacramental way. It is the epicenter of our life and of the whole world. At Mass, our redemption is accomplished. There we are immersed in the Paschal Mystery—the Mystery of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection. At Mass, we are lifted up beyond earthly realities. There heaven and earth are united. At the altar, as Christ’s Sacrifice is offered, the mercy and love of the Father are poured upon us.
           
We come to the mountain of the Transfiguration when we come to Mass. There we are given the Holy Eucharist, which is the risen, glorified Body of Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament, we receive a pledge of eternal life and God Himself. For, the Mass is the “Paschal Banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (Lumen Gentium, #11).
           
So, like my friend Joyce, and countless other Catholics throughout the ages, let us go to the mountain; let us go to Mass daily if possible. Because when we come to the mountain, we come to God.

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh