You have turned my mourning into dancing

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today provide images of the desire of God to restore the relationship with the people of Israel who have been exiled and who are being encouraged by Isaiah to return to Jerusalem and their relationship with the Divine which will last even if the mountains should fall and the hills turn to dust. This passage is a reminder of the re-enactment of the destruction of Mount St Helens done by the US Geological Service where the mountain disappears before our eyes. On the side of the mountain at the observation station the missing mountain stands as witness to the awesome change in the landscape of Washington state. Luke presents Jesus discussion about John the Baptist, the witness to the restoration of intimacy with the Divine through the Messiah. It is similar to the description of Matthew read at the Mass for the third Sunday in Advent except that Luke states openly that the Pharisees and the lawyers has rejected God’s purpose for their lives. The spiritual journey which we are invited to embrace is to determine our identity and purpose relative to the intimate relationship with the Divine through which this discovery is revealed.