The Seven Mountains of Grace
Mountains, rich in grandeur and beauty, are places of sacrifice and glory, of challenge and transformation. Amazing events happen in their wild meadows and rocky peaks. Mountains are places of encountering what we may not expect. They are places of grace, a divine gift that brings us supernatural life.
What happened in these high places?
Mount Ararat
Light can be bright to our eyes when we’ve lived for a long time in a dark space. When Noah emerged from the ark and walked on the damp earth, after nights clouded by sorrow and loss, he knew he had been granted new life. He gave thanks to the One who had sustained him. Divine words entered Noah’s consciousness, affirming his reality as a son of God. In a time of darkness, Noah received the sign of the rainbow. In a shadowed form, Noah saw the divine promise, little knowing how great a promise would be made to his descendants.
Mount Sinai
On this mountain, the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire. After wandering in the wilderness, Moses learned how to be in the divine presence. His face radiated the glory he had encountered. On Mt. Sinai, Moses received the foundations for living a good life. One day, these foundations would be transformed by the Light. God, whose great works had freed the Hebrews from enslavement, established a way of living that proclaims the values of truth, fidelity and life itself.
Three: Mount Gerizim
The prophet Moses summoned the People of God and announced that they were standing in the divine presence. He told them that wherever they might wander, they would always have a choice to make. Moses set before them life and prosperity, or death and destruction, and counseled them: “Choose life, that you and your children may live, and love God, listen to God’s voice, and hold fast to God." Mount Gerizim became known as the Mount of Blessings, a place where life was freely chosen. To this day, we all make ongoing choices that bring us toward joy and fullness of life, or to what is barren and deadly.
Four: Mount Zion
Mount Zion is renowned for such pivotal events as Jacob’s dream of a ladder leading to heaven, where angels ascend and descend. This is the location of the costly Temple built by Soloman, and of the Last Supper. This mountain is named as the city of the living God, where thousands and thousands of angels gather in joyful assembly. Its heavenly courts will house the spirits of those who have become perfect, and whose names are written in heaven.
Five: Mount of Beatitude
On this mountain, Jesus showed his followers the way to be completely transformed into a new way of being. He spoke to everyone gathered there, tired and fearful, living under the dominion of Roman power. Then and there, he called them to become children of God, to rejoice and to love, and to be the light of the world.
Six: Mount Tabor
Mount Tabor also bears the name of the Mount of Transfiguration. In the quiet of this mountainside, Jesus was transfigured so that his face shone like the sun and his clothes gleamed with light. A luminous cloud revealed the divine presence to the three men gathered there, who were gripped by fear so great they could hardly speak. On this peak of glory, Jesus shared words of peace—a divine peace, that speaks of harmony, of wholeness, of divine union.
Seven: Mount of Olives
This mountain is known for being a place of intense prayer and suffering, and of ultimate betrayal. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus lay down his will before God. On the mountainside under the trees, his exhausted followers fell asleep. In that hour of darkness, his betrayer stole his way up the path. By noon the next day, Jesus was dead. Yet death could not have the final word. In three days' time, the world was transformed by the Resurrection.
Prophetic words from Zachariah announce that at the end of time, God will appear on this mountain, splitting it in two from east to west. On that day, all the holy ones will be with him, in radiant light, and life-giving water will flow across the lands.