THE MOUNTAIN

The symbol that we want to highlight on this second Sunday of Lent is the mountain. On the mountain, God indicates the way of the cross as the path to glory. The disciples understood that Jesus is the Messiah and that his path leads to the cross. However, what they still do not understand is how the cross can contain glory within itself. So for an instant Jesus lifts the veil and they see in advance the splendour of his divine majesty. This experience is momentary and is the prelude, and at the same time the promise, of the future glorification of believers. But first we must make God’s ways our own and go through the scandal of the cross, as we have said. But what does the mountain represent?
In the Hebrew language “mount” is said har whose root is the same as harah (“to be pregnant”). The mountain therefore has a “maternal” character in itself, that is, it is the place of a birth. We can say that you don’t go down the mountain as you went up. We think of Moses when he arrives at Horeb or of Elijah on Sinai. For both, the voice of YHWH heralds new beginnings, new awareness, real rebirths. But before them, let’s think again of Abraham who on Moria becomes a father according to God and not according to the logic of interest. For the ancient mens, the mountain represents the divine sphere in contact with the human sphere. The Gospel also highlights the importance of the mountain, where Jesus overcomes temptations (cf. Mt 4.8), summons the Twelve (cf. Mk 3.13), is transfigured (cf. Mk 9.2), appears risen ( cf. Mt 28,16) and ascends to the Father (cf. Acts 1,9-12). The mountain is thus configured as a theological space. «Of course – said Angelo Silesius – God is an abyss, but he asks those who want to show themselves to climb to the top of the eternal mountains». As a pictorial icon we refer to the Transfiguration (1556) by Paolo Veronese preserved in the cathedral of Montagnana (Pd). On a mountain, surrounded by clouds and the two witnesses Moses and Elijah, Christ manifests the light of the Kingdom, leaving the apostles below astonished by the event.

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey