earth & heaven

Feb 25, 2018

Mountain tops are significant places in the Bible.

In the Old Testament God was thought to dwell in the distant heavens therefore if you wanted to get close to God you might climb a mountain. Think of Abraham and Isaac, up a mountain in today’s first reading, or Moses coming down the mountain with the Ten Commandments in yesterday’s scripture.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus takes Peter, James and John up Mount Tabor which rises from the plain in Lower Galilee (picture above). There the disciples come to understand that Jesus is not just another human mate, but the one announced by the voice of God: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

Here is a brief reflection on our moments of prayer as an encounter with God who in Jesus has come down from heaven and down from the mountain.

 

6 Comments

  1. I’m a bit like those disciples after the mountain experience. I want to stay up there with Jesus and build shrines. But that’s not Jesus’ way. He takes the experience down to the plains, teaching me that the mountain and plains belong together. Fr John, it links with your earlier blog about the connection between personal relationship with Jesus and community.

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  2. Thank you Fr. John for your daily 3minute reflections. One can cat more out of these three minutes than a long sermon Thank you Thank you. Cecilia

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  3. Great to have your daily reflections Fr. John, and to have the essence of the message given in a way we can retain. Thank you. Janet

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  4. We went up Mt. Tabor when we went to the Holy Lands. I found the place which had been made in honour of Elijah, and the one made for Moses. Our driver was a Christian Arab, and his child was very ill (keeping him, his wife and mother-in-law up all night. I went and found Serjio and said, “Let’s pray to the God of Elijah and ask Him to heal your child.” We prayed together in that place. The next day, we were travelling back to Tel Aviv to fly back to New Zealand, and Serjio passed me a glass jar full of home-made olive oil. He said, “Here is a gift from my wife. She is so grateful our daughter is healed.” GLORY AND PRAISE TO GOD!!!!!

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  5. Thank you Fr John for your gift of time and explanations. Those mountain moments are precious throughout the day. I find the mountain moments can be enhanced when I step out to be with the ruggedness of them. The awe and wonder is uplifting just as the ‘mountain moments’ are in daily life. Blessings

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  6. I once said to God …We don’t have anything amazing like the transfiguration to help us believe . And straight away he said “ you have got the Eucharist . “ I had said to him several months before . “ I had been bought up to believe in the true presence in the Eucharist but I asked him to tell me . So he equates the presence in the Eucharist and the changing of the bread and wine into his body and blood as amazing as the transfiguration. Jenny

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