We shall not be moved!
February 28, 2021: 2nd Sunday of Lent
Genesis 22: 1-2, 9a,10-13, 15-18; Romans 8: 31b-34; Mark 9: 2-10
I believe you like a mountain, they say. Have you heard that expression? What it actually means, ever wondered? Like a mountain - mountains, they fascinate, they inspire awe, they challenge, they smile down on us and they stand there unperturbed by anything! It is not their tallness that is their strength, may be that too. It is not their hugeness that is their pride, may be that too. But it is their endurance, their never failing attitude, their fortitude in facing all weather - wind or cold or heat or wet! That is why our faith is a mountain to which we are called...we are well on our way to the Mountain!
The readings present to us a mountainous experience... the first reading we have a mountain that tested Abraham but saved him forever and in the Gospel we have a mountain that shone in splendour to the apostles because of Jesus, but it was not all, there were more things to understand and come to terms with! And St. Paul in the second reading speaks to us of an unfailing mountain, with whom we shall not be moved: if God is for us, who can be against us - the Lord our Mountain!
Let us analyse these mountains and we shall be done for this week...not just this week, but for our whole life which is a journey, a journey of faith, a journey that leads us to the everlasting Mountain, the promised Mountain of the presence of the Lord. We are on our way to that Mountain...and on the way we are given mountains to foretaste that which awaits us and mountains to remind us that we are on our way to the Mountain.
Before we have a look at those mountains...let us note one important detail: the Word today does not name the mountains for us. Neither does the account from Genesis, nor does the episode from Mark, give us the name of the Mountain - because it is not the mountain that they are concerned about, but the experience of the Mountain. It is not the mountain itself that is holy, but what happens there! It is not the mountain in itself that shines, but the one who invites us there! Now ...let us be on our way to the Mountain.
The first mountain is the mountain of testing and sacrifice! Our faith journey is more often than not, a uphill journey. There are of course moments that give us a easy ride and other moments when the experience is plane (or plain)! But the moments that are remembered for long are the mountainous moments...moments that try us, as was tried Abraham. But that trial becomes salvific, when we begin to understand the whole picture of our life. Look at Abraham...he was childless and he was given a child and when that child was demanded of him, he could have easily thought he has to protect that child with all his life. But he is our father in faith, because he thought differently. He thought to himself: what was I before the Lord called me, before the Lord named me Abraham from Abram, before the Lord gave me Isaac as my own...it is the Lord's own making and it is the same Lord who is asking! Abraham reaches the peak of the mountain...not the physical peak of that mountain he was climbing, but the spiritual peak of the mountain of faith. He gets ready to give all that he had, to God...and the Mountain saved him, saved him forever, saved his name for generations to come! The Mountain Saves!
The other mountain is the mountain of splendour and glory! Our faith journey at times is obscured by events around us. There are events that seem dark and dreadful - like the pandemic, the economic crisis, the political mockeries, the globalised vandalism that we are experiencing right now in the world. All that we need to do is, climb the mountain with the Lord and there we will see the splendour, there we will see the light, there we will see the Truth that rests with God alone. But the problem is we cannot remain there all our life...we have to come down, but remember always what we saw "up there"...that is the experience that the Lord creates, so that we are given the endurance to keep walking on our way to the Mountain. That is why we proclaimed with energy in the responsorial psalm today: I will walk! I will walk in the presence of the Lord! I will walk all my way to the Mountain! The apostles were given a special experience, because they needed it. No doubt they were having tough times, with no one understanding their master and they themselves not getting clearly what their master was communicating to them. But there were tougher times still to come...they had to be prepared. They were prepared with that experience on the mountain, and that would sustain them for quite some journey. The Mountain Shines!
Then comes the Mountain par excellence - the Lord our God. On my way to heaven I shall not be moved - for the Rock is with me; the Mountain is with me, my stronghold, my fortress and I shall not be moved. When God is with me, what does it matter who is against me! My mountain is my Lord...and it is to this Mountain that I am journeying all my life. As the psalmists says:I did not say to the sons of Jacob, search for me in vain! Yes, the Lord is with us, and there is no need to search for the Lord. The Lord is right beside us as an unmoved Mountain, all that we need to do is decide to be on our way to the Mountain and we shall be there; allow the Mountain to sustain us and we shall not be moved, we shall last, we shall endure, we shall stand and we shall stand firm - because our Lord stands at the right hand of God to plead for us! The Mountain Stands!
The Mountain bids us: walk, the Mountain challenges us: stand, the Mountain encourages us: endure! And we shall be saved, we shall shine and we shall stand, because we are on our way to the Mountain!