The Mount of the Beatitudes

The Mount of the Beatitudes is an idyllic place, perfect for Jesus' proclamation, Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them" Mt 5:17.

The mount is a tree-lined hill not far from Capernaum. It overlooks the sea of Galilee. Of the places I have been so far in the Holy Land, I decide that I like Galilee best. Here on the mount, I feel a peace and serenity that I have not experienced anywhere else. I presume that it is the beauty of the place that is the cause. Every direction I turn provides me with beautiful vistas, shades of green against blue sky and water, rolling plains, flowers, distant mountains, date-palms and cypress trees. Blessed tranquility! Regal nature!

As soon as we arrive, I am invigorated, ready to explore my surroundings. It is beautiful and yet not what I had expected, still it is not disappointing. Jesus walked here. I can't get over this. This is where He did his most intense teaching, where he challenged the multitudes to become truly like Him, Christians. Doers of the word.

In this place Jesus reinforced and reiterated our moral code. In this setting and speaking with divine authority, He urged, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3. He spoke with intensity and urgency. He let his listeners know how God views the issues that concern humanity to this day: divorce, anger, adultery, marriage, oaths, retaliation, love for our enemies, alms giving. You have heard it said. . .But I say to you. . . Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Mt 5: 6-7. He spoke as the Messiah, and the people saw in him someone greater than Moses; they believed. They took His words to their hearts. In Galilee, against that setting, it was easy to do. His words challenged then; they challenge today. Today the challenge falls on deaf ears.

We walk through the arched ambulatory into the main chapel of the domed octagonal church built by the order of St. Francis, and there Father celebrates Mass. Above us sunlight filters through the stained glass windows on which the words of the Beatitudes are written.

Mass is always an emotional experience for me, and on this day I am moved to tears. On this day, I really understood Jesus' powerful words so urgent and so unheeded. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. . . So be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Mt 5: 43-45, 48.

The Church of the Pater Noster

He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, When you pray, say : Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. . . Lk 11:1-4.

The gospels do not identify the "certain place" where Jesus gave us the Pater Noster, but tradition places it in the Mount of Olives. History tells us that Constantine built a church on the spot, but it was later destroyed by the Persians. Then when the Crusaders came along, they erected another church, and they called it the Pater Noster. After they were expelled, the church fell into ruins until the 19th century when a Florentine princess purchased the site and built a Carmelite Convent there. This is the church we found when we arrived at the mount around mid-morning. There were already crowds there. Father led us directly to the courtyard where the Church of the Pater Noster is situated, urging us not to get side-tracked by stores and vendors. There were so many people there that it was hard to imagine the quiet mount of olives where Jesus prayed all those years ago.

As had become our custom, we read the Scripture and then we prayed the words that Jesus taught us in probably the very spot where his disciples heard the words. I tried to reconstruct the scene as it might have been on the day that Jesus taught the prayer, but there were too many distractions. And then I realized, the crowds, vendors and the clicking of the camera shutters were evidence that although we live in a chaotic world, if we speak to the Father from the heart, He will hear us and answer.