Wednesday, December 05, 2007

the Lord's mountain

Greetings from Philadelphia and the convent at the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth's hospital where we have been given the run of the house. (Thanks, Sisters!) The snow is falling steadily. Hopefully it will just add atmosphere, and not discourage people from coming to our concert tonight!
The liturgy today has two magnificent readings, complemented by the ever-consoling Psalm 23 ("The Lord is My Shepherd"). Both of the readings (from Isaiah and from Matthew) take place "on the mountain." Isaiah calls it "this mountain," "my holy mountain"; Matthew just calls it "the" mountain. "The" mountain figures strongly in Matthew's gospel; it is a way he connects ALL of the Bible's mountain stories with the story of Jesus. In other words, Matthew is pointing to Jesus as fulfilling and in a way present throughout the whole history of the Chosen People. Here's a thought of the day, taken from the first reading: "This is the Lord to whom we looked to save us; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!"

1 comment:

Lisa said...

Glad you are enjoying the hospitality of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth! The snow seems pretty light here so I am hopeful that it will add ambience and not discourage people. In the heart of Northeast Philadelphia, I am pretty sure that people are used to wintry weather so this snow probably doesn't phase them too much.

Happy singing!