“In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it.” (Isaiah 2:2)
Saint Jerome offers the following insight on this verse from today’s First Reading:
“This mountain is in the house of the Lord, for which the prophet sighed when he said, “One thing I asked from the Lord, this I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” and about which Paul wrote to Timothy, “If I am late, you should know how to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” This house was built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, who are mountains themselves as imitators of Christ. About this house of Jerusalem the psalmist cried out: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which dwells in Jerusalem; it will not be moved forever. The mountains surround her and the Lord surrounds his people.” Hence Christ also founds his church on one of the mountains and says to him, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against her.” (Commentary on Isaiah, 1)
Collect
Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God,
as we await the advent of Christ Your Son,
so that, when He comes and knocks,
He may find us watchful in prayer
and exultant in His praise.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
as we await the advent of Christ Your Son,
so that, when He comes and knocks,
He may find us watchful in prayer
and exultant in His praise.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
