MEETING GOD ON THE HIGH GROUND

Last weekend we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This weekend, Elijah—one of the Old Testament figures who appeared conversing with Jesus on the mountain—appears again in our first reading. This passage from the First Book of Kings is the iconic scene of Elijah’s meeting with the awesome presence of God, not ultimately in any of the ‘expected’ manifestations of wind, earthquake, or fire, but paradoxically signaled by the tiny whispering sound. Before this meek hiddenness of God, the prophet had to veil his face.

Elijah is not the only one we find in this weekend’s readings seeking God and praying upon the mountain. Jesus too, we are told in the Gospel, “went up on the mountain by himself to pray” (Mt 14:23). What a wonderful image of Jesus Christ, the One through Whom all things were made, praying amid His Creation!

In mid-July I was privileged to spend six days with a group of young adults from our parish in Glacier National Park. I commend Nate and Megan Whipple for their intrepid leadership and organization to make it a truly life-giving time of hiking, prayer, and fellowship for all involved! I am pleased to be able to share a few photos from our adventures. Know that we carried your intentions along the trails, and you were remembered in the offering of each Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and time of mountain-top Eucharistic Adoration.

Summer is grace-filled time to pursue the Living God where He is to be found! Whether your summer has included literal mountain-top experiences and the glories of a national park or not, truly God wants to make Himself known to you and refresh you by the awesome nearness of His Presence.

“Verso l’alto!” (to use the beloved phrase of the alpinist, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, “To the heights!”)

~Fr. Howe