God' Holy Mountain, a prophetic theme

* Zion, though it is only a small hill finally becomes the perfection of all mountains because on it was the dwelling place of God. This thought is a recurring theme that is quite frequent in the psalms and prophecies in the Bible. Every prophet makes a reference to God's Holy Mountain (Jerusalem, Zion) and calls people to find hope on God's holy mountain. The following are few of the examples that could be cited: * Ps. 48:1- "Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain". * Is. 11:9- "They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of knowledge of Yahweh". * Is. 27:13- "It will happen in that day that a great trumpet will be blown; and those who were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and those who were outcasts in the land of Egypt, shall come; and they will worship Yahweh in the holy mountain in Jerusalem". * Is. 65:25- "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,"says Yahweh". * Ez. 20:40- "For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings,and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things". * Ez. 28:14- "You were the anointed cherub who covers: and I set you, that you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire". * Ez. 43:12- "This is the law of the house: on the top of the mountain the whole limit around it shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house". * Zech.8:3-"Thus says Yahweh: 'I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of Yahweh of Armies, 'The Holy Mountain." *Rev. 21:10-11- "He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having glory of God".

Mountain in the Gospels

Departing from the past tradition when Jerusalem was the mount where God could be worshipped, Jesus did not attach importance either to Jerusalem or any other mountain as a place of prayer or Divine experience. In fact, while talking to the Samaritan woman he said that neither the temple of the Jews nor the sacred Mountain of the Samaritans mattered for prayer but emphasized the importance of praying in spirit and truth CJn. 4:23-24). In the Gospel according to Matthew quite symbolically he is seen teaching the disciples from a mountain. But he tells them that they should pray in secret to the Father from the privacy of the room with the doors closed,"But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you" )Mt.6:6) However mountains do have prominence in the Gospels and great events are related to mountains. Beginning with the Sermon on the Mount, there are a number of instances when the mountain is chosen as an important location for significant events in the Gospels.Jesus was transfigured on a mountain that traditionally is believed to be Mount Tabor.Next we hear of the Mount of Olives as the place where Jesus prayed after the Last Supper," Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives" (Mt.26:30). He had often spent nights on that mountain,"During the day,Jesus was teaching in the temple area, but at night he would leave and stay at the place called the Mount of Olives"(Lk. 21:37). His death took place on Calvary a little mount covered with skulls, made holy by the blood of the Redeemer.The ascension too is believed to have taken place from a mountain in Galilee, according to Matthew, though he does not describe the scene,"The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them" (Mt.28:16). According to Luke the ascension takes from a mountain called Olivet that was near Jerusalem,"Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away" (Acts: 1:12). Later in the early Christian Church the meaning of Mount Zion changes into a heavenly site, "No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering" (Heb.12:22). John's visions are focused quite vividly on the heavenly Jerusalem, "Then I looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads" (Rev.14:1). He sees it coming down from heaven to earth which means the formation of a holy mountain on the earth,that is the center where the Christians are to experience God, "He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God"(Rev:21:10). Conclusion: We human beings search for God through signs and symbols that are quite common. God fulfills these aspirations through his marvelous interventions through Christ.In Christ he has made everything new. This too was prophesied many centuries ago, especially through Isaiah."Lo, I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind"(Is.65:17). At the center of this new creation, there had to be God's dwelling place on the holy mountain.And too Isaiah had prophesied long ago,"On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy,rich food and pure, choice wines" (Is. 25:6). We are all the beneficiaries of the new heavens and the new earth where the mountain of the Lord is our Church, where God dwells. It is really marvelous that every natural symbolism searching for God has been fulfilled in Christ.

QUEEN ESTHER ...a model of prayer

Who was Esther? Her earlier name was Hadas'sah (the feminine form of hadas, myrtle). She was the daughter of Abihail, of a Benjaminite family that did not return to Palistine after the exiles were given freedom. After she had lost her parents she was under the care of Mordechai her uncle (Esther @:7). The name Esther itself, a variant of the name of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, was given to her after having been chosen queen by King Ahasuerus and joining the Harem. The name could be also a Syro-Arabian modification of the Persian word Satarah, which means star. Those Jews who had not returned to Palestine after exile still had to fear much. While they were in the Persian Empire centuries after the others had come back to Palestine, there was a plot hatched by Haman a minister under king Ahasuerus, to exterminite all the Jews from the empire. Haman's conspiracy arose from his anger because an important official named Mordeccai (Esther's uncle)who was in service under the same king did not pay the required daily homeage of a profound bow to him. So this minister convinced the King to pass a decree of extermination of all Jews so that Mordeccai also would be got rid of. As the story goes, Mordeccai asked Queen Esther to plead with the King to spare the Jews, something that was humanly speaking impossible, Finally, the miracle happens, through the intervention of this queen, who humbled herself, fasted, prayed and begged the king to spare them.

The Uniqueness of her Prayer

The section on prayer in the book of Esther is given in the Addition 14 in the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). The reason is that certain parts of this book are not in the Hebrew but only in the Septuagint version. We Catholics who accept also these parts; so these parts are numbered in a different way. The thematic verse almost at the beginning that sets the tone of the text is, "Queen Esther, seized with deadly anxiety, likewise fled up to the Lord" (C:14:1) In all the forms of emergency prayer found in the Jewish manner of prayer, particularly,in the praying pattern of the woman that sense of flight to the Lord is evident. The take refuge in the Lord with great urgency and speed like a bird flying to the mountain.So David writes," In the LORD I take refuge; how can you see to me, "Flee like a bird to the Mountains!'" (Ps. 11:1). Again another psalm speaks of the escape like that of a bird fleeing from a trap, "We escaped with our lives like a bird from the fowler's snare; the snare was broken and we escaped" Ps.124:7).Similarly Esther flees from the worldly status in the palace at the moment of danger and takes refuge in the Lord. The text of the prayer of Esther is quite long. But the parts of a typical prayer are there: a) Self -abasement in humility and penitence by taking off the royal garments and putting on a penitential garb with even dirt smeared on herself; b) Address to God as the only God of Israel, saying: 'My Lord, our king, you alone are God'; c) Presentation of the gravity of the danger: "for I am taking my life in my hand" (C15); d)Acknowledgement of sin recalling past history and admitting the present state of sin: "But now we have sinned in your sight, and you have delivered us into the hands of our enemies" (C17) e) The fear of being deprived of the possibility of giving praise to God and restore the glory of God, the temple and the altar: to close the mouths of those who praise you, and to extinguish the glory of your temple and your altar; and f) The final request with her whole heart: " O God, more powerful than all, hear the voice of those in despair. Save us from the power of the wicked, and deliver me from my fear" (C:30). We know that the prayer worked wonderfully because God changed the anger of the king into kindness: "But God changed the king's anger to goodness" (D: 8). The rest of the story is already known to us: the Jews were spread of that threatened extermination and so they rejoiced by celebrating the feast of Purim. Purim (Hebrew 'lots', related to Akkadian puru) is a festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people living throughout the ancient Persian Empire from a plot by Haman the Agagite to annihilate them. According to the story, Haman cast lots to determine the day upon which to exterminate the Jews (Cf. Wikipedia).

Esther a model of intercessory prayer

   Intercession is a form of prayer extremely pleasing to God and has a long tradition from the early stages of the Bible history. The Hebrew word for intercede originally meant "to strike upon", and thus comes to mean 'to assail anyone with petitions. ' When such assailing was done on behalf of others this was called intercession (Cf.Wycliffe Bible Dictonary)

  We know from the Bible the names of a number of intercessors like, Abraham who interceded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses who prayed for his people on Mount Sinai, Elijah who implored the Lord to turn the peoples' hearts back to worship Him alone (Kg 18: 36-37).
 
   In the New Testament we see the early Church interceding  for the deliverance of Peter from the prison (Acts 12: 5). Paul always interceded for Christ's Church (2 Cor 13:7) saying, "but we pray to God that you may not do anything wrong (2Cor. 13:9). In several of his letters we read how much he was praying for the Christian communities and for the spread of the Gospel (Eph 2: 17;Col 4:3; 1Thess.3:10). He instructs Timothy about a mode of intercession saying, "First of all, then, I urge That supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions...." (Tim2 :1-4).

Esther as an example of a special type of intercessor

        Esther interceded for her people with all her heart and with all her being. She took all the risk in spite of knowing that she could be put to death by the king in violating the laws. As mentioned earlier, it a big leap she made into the Lion's den to save her people.From her royal status she stooped low to the level of dust in profound humility, to beg for mercy and clemency from the king for her people.

      Esther had that intercessory confidence like that of Mother Mary who intervened at the wedding of Cana.That too was  a risk; if Jesus had rejected it would have been a humiliation for her.

      Esther bore a little resemblance to Christ in her intercession. Jesus Christ also made his life as a sacrifice for the salvation of his people while interceding for the people. Just as Esther depended on her God for help, so too Jesus, depended on his Father to rescue him.

     We too like Esther can do a great deal by interceding for others. God loves a cheerful giver, who gives
time and makes sacrifices to intercede for others.

WOMAN OF PRAYER : JUDITH

A SINGLE WOMAN ARMY THAT SHE WAS, JUDITH DEFEATED A MIGHTY ARMY LED BY THE GENERAL HOLOFERNES, THROUGH HER PRAYER THAT BROUGHT HEAVEN DOWN. IT IS THAT QUALITY OF PRAYER THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE. THE INTRODUCTION TO THAT PRAYER IS CONVINCING ENOUGH REGARDING THE ATTITUDE OF PROFOUND HUMILITY AND TOTAL INVOLVEMENT IN PRAYER: "Judith threw herself down prostrate, with ashes strewn upon her head, and wearing nothing over her sackcloth. while the incense was being offered in the temple of God in Jerusalem that evening, Judith prayed to the Lord with a loud voice" (Judith 9:1) That was a primitive style of prayer but genuine and typically Semitic or rather Jewish in character. There are important elements to be noted: * Prostration * Ashes strewn upon the head * Wearing a sackcloth and nothing more * While incense was being offered * She prayed with a loud voice None of these qualities can be seen in modern types of prayer when we come well-dressed and sit comfortably on chairs, even cross-legged, and pray rather mentally than vocally. Judith followed the Jewish pattern of prayer that was done in extreme situations. Her posture was prostration something that brings a person to the earth level in humility. Next she does not use any special make-up with cosmetics- her cosmetics are ashes strewn over the hair. She does not wear fine clothes but only sackcloth. She chooses the appropriate moment to pray, that is, when incense was being offered which symbolizes sacred moment when the priest too is offering prayer to God. Finally her prayer is with a loud voice. There are other Jewish qualities of prayer added to this her all-important prayer. The Jews would recall the past and remind God of the times he saved them.she recalls particularly the way Simeon had avenged the rape of his sister Dina and slaughtered those strangers in a treacherous manner that she considers as heroic act done with the help of God. Judith also brings to the Lord's notice the evil intention of the proud Assyrians to defile his holy sanctuary, their plan to poll out the tabernacle and to destroy his altar. She talks to the heart of God by telling him that he does not need numbers and reminds about his goodness towards the lowly. She uses also a few touching titles about God's goodness, "Your strength is not in numbers, nor does your power depend upon stalwart men; but you are the God of the lowly, the helper of the oppressed, the supporter of the weak,the protector of the forsaken, the Savior of those without hope" (Judith 9:11). She uses even greater titles for God which are definitely appealing,"Please God of my forefather, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters,King of all you have created, hear my prayer!"(Judith 9:12). According to Jewish way of thinking, it was important to address God invoking his various attributes and powers. Jesus was not in favor of such a mode of prayer, "When you pray do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do" (Mt.6:7). However, in Juduth's case, she is not heaping up empty phrases by calling God by the important titles he had. She is simple, sincere and profoundly theological in her prayer, when she tells God, "the Lord is your name" (Judith 9:8). Prayer has to be persistent as Judith does. No where in the Bible do we read of someone pleading and begging God more than Judith does as we read in verse 12. "Please, please" she begs like a little child before a loving father. How can a loving father refuse the plea of a beloved daughter? In prayer we should give glory to God as Judith does. In the last verse of Chapter 9, she prays that this victory over the enemy will bring more honour and glory to God and not to her or anyone else,"Let your whole nation and all the tribes know clearly that you are the god of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone"(9:14) Therefore, we see that Judith's prayer was a humble but powerful one which encompassed the qualities that please God and which he could not reject. They are qualities such as-her humility, total trust in God, selfless,sincerity,total commitment, giving total glory and honour only to God. Although she was a woman, her courage and bravery to take such a dreadful risk of loosing her life came totally from her trust in her God and not in any human help, not in the army of her nation.It was really her trust that worked the miracle and because she trusted in her God, she sought his help by spending time in fasting and prayer. And she prayed with all her heart,all her soul and all her mind - a fervent prayer that God could not overlook. In contrast to her total trust in God,the Assyrians trusted in their horses and riders, soldiers, their shield and spear, bow and sling. She prayed that the Lord would make himself and his might known to them by crushing their strength, their arrogance and their pride. We know from the Bible, God delights in the humble but resists the proud as St. James says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" "(James 4:6). Judith's prayer and courageous deed have been likened to the Blessed Virgin Mary's God-given grace and strength to crush the serpent the devil. Judith's prayer and the Magnificat of Mary have something in common, humility and trust. Judith's prayer and courage are of course surpassed by Mary's self-sacrifice and trust at the foot of the cross, doing the final battle against the devil. A FINAL THOUGHT Judith's story may look unbelievable but the message is unbelievably true because of the substance of the prayer attributed to her.That kind of prayer could not have been rejected by God. We are taught how to pray since our childhood but does not mean we know how to pray. If our prayer is lacking something we can take it from Judith-humility in posture and dress, praying from the heart and offering it like incense to God. Judith was forceful in her prayer because she recalled the great deeds of God and addressed God with meaningful titles. We have many things before God to thank him for we know the best title that we can use for through Jesus the prayer will be more powerful than that of Judith, provided we also trust with all our heart and in all humility, as Judith had done.