| Jesus, we are told by St Matthew, went up the mountain, sat down and preached to his disciples. It was this setting that was chosen by the Lord to give his most important teaching – the Sermon on the Mount.
Mountains feature often in the life of Jesus. He withdrew to them often in order to pray. After the feeding of the five thousand he withdrew to pray while he sent his disciples back across the lake. St Luke tells us that he spent all night in prayer in the mountains before he named his twelve disciples. It was on Mount Tabor, quite a high mountain in Galilee, that he was transfigured. He withdrew to the Mount of Olives after the Last Supper to pray prior to his arrest and passion. It was on calvary hill just outside Jerusalem that Jesus was crucified.
The heart of the city of Jerusalem is Mount Zion on which the temple was built. This was the mountain to which Abraham went with his son Issac to offer sacrifice to the Lord. It was the most important place of pilgrimage for the Jewish people; pilgrimages that Jesus himself made many times beginning in his childhood. The pilgrims would sing, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord” (see Isaiah 2:3).
At the natural human level what do mountains offer us? They are places of solitude. On top of a mountain there is a sense of quiet, of reflection. The top of a mountain offers great vistas and one can be filled with awe at the distances that open up before our eyes. We gaze out over the magnificent panoramas that lie before us. On the mountain top one is often captivated at the beauty of nature stretching out before us. Reaching the top of a mountain one is content to pause, to gaze out on the scene, to bask in a moment of splendour and amazement. Mountain tops move the human spirit.
Climbing a mountain can be a test of our energy, our endurance and our determination. Reaching a peak can be a moment of exhilaration in the achievement of a goal. We have been tested and we have overcome. There can be the sense of triumph. Climbing mountains has always been an attraction for people. If it is there it must be climbed. I love bushwalking and most walks I have done have involved a mountain. It is one of the great aspects to bushwalking – even if I now find the climbs a little more arduous.
Today we have gathered on the highest peak in Australia firstly to commemorate a similar gathering of some 200 people on this day in 1913, one hundred years ago. A Mass was celebrated here and a homily was delivered by the Archbishop of Sydney, Michael Kelly. It is claimed that this was the first Mass celebrated on this pinnacle. There is no reason to doubt this claim. So today we commemorate an historical moment.
The mountain is name Kosciuszko, an unusual name for a location in Australia with its aboriginal and Anglo-Saxon heritage. On 12th March 1840, the explorer, scientist and surveyor, Paul Strzelecki climbed this peak, declared it at the elevation of 6,510 feet as the highest peak in Australia, and chose to name it after the great Polish patriot, Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
The name has given Australia a link with Poland and with the nineteenth century struggle for liberty and democracy in which he was deeply involved. It is a link which echoes our own respect for freedom and the recognition of the right of the people to engage in the political process. Australians have a strong spirit of egalitarianism and of self-determination. In this we stand with the spirit of men like Kosciuszko.
On this mountain today with the variety of streams to our thought let us take the moment in this Mass to do what the crowds did as described in the Gospel today; let us sit for a moment at the feet of Jesus. Let us listen to his words on this mountain and hear what they say to us about our lives and about our country.
The Lord opened his preaching and teaching with the well known and much loved words, “Blessed are the poor”. Kosciuszko devoted his life to freeing the serfs from the poverty imposed on them by their landlords. While we are aware of the existence of poverty in our own land we know that poverty can take many forms.
On this mountain before this vast and beautiful display of nature we can sense our own smallness, our own poverty, in the greater scheme of things and this is salutary. Being exposed on a mountain away from the technological and material devises that soften and protect our lives we can sense the fragility of human life. Today we can declare before God that we are so small in the midst of the greatness of nature and in the vast cosmos. In this sense we are poor, and to know and acknowledge our poverty can be a source of blessing. The opposite – being excessively self confident – can be very dangerous in life and certainly on this mountain.
Next the Lord teaches, “Blessed are the gentle”. Here where the wind sings and nature blooms we know that we are not the masters of the environment but rather humble beneficiaries of its beauty and fecundity. Looking out on the splendour before us we are moved to be deeply respectful of something which is at once majestic and fragile. While nature is powerful it is also fragile. We know we must tread gently over this ground. In our moments of silent reflection we touch the inner spirit in each of us which is gentle and respectful of nature and of human life. We are urged to treat nature as a gift and to ensure that we do not damage it so that future generations will not experience what we are able to experience. So too we want to treat human life as sacred from the moment of conception to its natural end.
Then the Lord says something which is mystifying on face value: “Blessed are those who mourn”. Here we can recall Tadeusz Kosciuszko. He carried in his heart the sufferings of his people. While he responded by armed struggle for liberty, there is also a path to find comfort and consolation through turning to God. For those who know sorrow in their life there is a blessedness that comes with touching the Divine. God is love. Being drawn towards God is being drawn towards the source of love and love softens sorrow and tends the wounds of the heart. On this mountain today in a country blessed with freedom and opportunity we remember those who do not enjoy what we are privileged to enjoy in Australia. Long may our country be free and offer justice to all.
Knowing the reality of injustice in this world the Lord promises, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice”. Kosciuszko’s service to his country was inspired by the sufferings of his fellows. Not only the pain associated with foreign domination and the complete partition of his beloved fatherland, but also his acute sense of the injustice in the fate of the serfs. He had a keen sense of justice and fought all his life for freedom and opportunity. He has been universally admired for his absolute dedication to serving the needs of others. Today as we salute him for his unrelenting efforts for justice, we recall all who struggle with pure hearts for the rights and freedoms of others.
Each of the eight beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount can resonate with us as we celebrate this Mass today. These words of the Lord are the Magna Carta for Christianity. It is fitting that they are read today on this the highest peak in Australia. May they not only resonate in our hearts, but may they resonate in the hearts of all Australians. May all Australians know the profound truth and the inner freedom it brings by embracing the Christian way of life.
May the soul of our nation be stirred by the truth of these teachings of Christ that we may be a people whose spirit is great and generous. May all who visit this peak and pause to gaze out on the beauty of nature and the vistas before them be moved in spirit to desire that a true humanity flourishes in our land.
Bishop Julian Porteous
Mt Kosciuszko - Rawson's Pass
23rd February 2013, 11 am
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