The Mountain of the Lord (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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Today's reading speaks about "the Mountain of the Lord." This is a reference to Mount Zion and the temple that stood on top of it, which is where the presence of the Lord dwelt. Here, the Lord's salvation is said to spread to all nations, which is a remarkable contrast to the nationalistic focus Israelite religion. Although God did choose Israel to be His people, one must remember that the goal was always to bless all the nations of the earth through them (Genesis 12:3). Here, we see a re-affirmation of that promise.

The language of "destroying the veil" is especially noteworthy, since it brings to mind the rending of the temple veil when Jesus died (Mark 15:38). Thus, Isaiah hints at a Messianic prophecy, with Jesus as the fulfillment of the promises contained therein. It is with Jesus' death and resurrection that the veil is destroyed which kept the nations from seeing the Lord. And through that, as St. Paul tells us, death is swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54-55).

Finally, we must note that although the passage focuses on the physical site of Mt. Zion, the physical geography of the site has a spiritual meaning as well. As the author of Hebrews tells us, the Church is now the spiritual Jerusalem, and has become our Mt. Zion. Just as the Jews went to Mt. Zion to experience God, so we come into the Church to meet with our Lord:

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)

J. Luis Dizon