July 2015

From time immemorial, people of religious faith have seen the hills and mountains as signifying the meeting of heaven and earth. In the scriptures, such meetings took definitive form. At Mount Horeb, Moses received God’s revelation from the middle of the burning bush; on Sinai he received the Ten Commandments from God. To Elijah at Mount Horeb God was revealed not in mighty wind, earthquake or fire, but in a gentle breeze. Jesus went into the hills to pray. He fasted in a mountainous wilderness, was transfigured on a mountain and preached the Sermon on the Mount.

When the small boy gave Jesus the loaves and fish, heaven and earth met on a mountainside. From his poverty the boy have Him all he had and Jesus transformed his offering beyond all understanding. Jesus said that unless we change and become like little children we shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. The little boy shows us how to change that we might live forever with the Lord on His holy mountain.

Today’s story both reminds us of what has gone before this episode and gives hints about what is to follow. As it opens, we are told that Jesus’ disciples have been away. As the story ends, the set-up is complete for the account of one of the most famous miracles ever: the feeding of 5,000. In between, and using no more words than are absolutely necessary, St. Mark the evangelist describes both the arrival of people, and the place where they gather, in a way that will give added significance to the feeding miracle, which we will hear next week in St. John’s version. We are told that Jesus instructed His disciples to come away to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. The desert reminds us immediately of the Israelite’s 40 years in the desert. The disciples have not had anything to eat; the Israelites were faced with starvation until God fed them with manna.

Every single image, every single word in this Gospel story has significance. It reminds us of Israel’s history; it recalls the prayer of Israel – which is what the psalms were – and it is like St. Mark wanted his readers to think of the Eucharist. He needed to reassure his readers that the one who shepherded the crowd, who fed those who were hungry and who had compassion on those who lacked a shepherd, is not absent from this world. He continues to be present and to minister to each generation in the same way. It is especially in the Eucharist we celebrate that the Lord who is shepherd, teacher and source of food continues to be present to us today.

In today’s Gospel story of Jesus sending His disciples out on mission, St. Mark tells us that the one thing they were allowed to take with them was a staff for the journey, nothing else. The disciples were not going on holiday. They did not need to pack anything. In fact, all they needed was the assurance of Jesus and the power that He gave to them to teach and to heal. All other requirements they could expect to receive from the people they visited – shelter, a place to sleep and food to eat. These things they could reasonably expect in return for the work they were doing, preaching the word of God and healing those who were sick. Their purpose is to save; to save people going astray or who find themselves lost in this life. The instructions that Jesus gave are geared to keeping the focus on the importance of what the disciples say and do. That is why they are commanded to find a place to stay and to stay there. They are there to serve and save people. That is why the command is given to shake dust from their feet if they are rejected in their work. It is meant, not as retaliation, but to be a sign. Even in being dismissed they can still preach the Gospel and indicate its importance.

Some priests and religious people are career people. Religion is their preferred way of life, but no matter of salvation. It’s a job. Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, in today’s first reading, was such a person. When he tells Amos it is clear that he is preaching because he has to. He is not doing it for the good of his health! The Lord demands this of him that he should preach the real word of God to people, and not some idle nonsense. When people climb holy mountains, they do so because they feel a call to climb, a summons to go higher, a desire to see more clearly and a yearning to be a better person. The word of God calls us all the time. The faith we have been given is the stick that helps our climb, the staff that supports our journey. Let us take up our staff every day and journey together to the mountain of the Lord.