We’ve mentioned before that the Liturgy and Eucharist are the source and summit of the faith.
Carrying out the analogy, what does that mean for us?
The Mountain
If the source of faith is water flowing out of the source and summit of the mountain, it flows down to the world around it. We want to be living on that mountain, within reach of the lifegiving faith.
Source and Summit
Adam Bartlett, of Source and Summit has used this image to beautifully explain the role of music in the Liturgy. He has written and spoken about the subject, but I’ll summarize.
Following the image from Source and Summit, there are four levels to this mountain. The highest, including the peak is the Liturgy. Flowing down from there you enter into devotionals, then evangelization, and finally the base of the mountain is the culture at large. Each of these areas has a different purpose.
Liturgy – Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, Sacraments, the participation of the people in the “Work of God”
Devotional – Our personal prayers to God
Evangelization – Telling others about God
Culture at Large – Living a true, good, and beautiful life
Adam has devoted his life applying this to music, but this idea applies to every area of our life. Our actions, appearance, and even our thoughts are different in our daily life compared to when we are evangelizing, praying, or worshiping.
Living on the Mountain
As I mentioned, we want to be living on this mountain throughout our week, hiking up and down along the stream of our faith.
We start on Sunday with Mass, Liturgy, the summit. Then each day we say our daily prayers and devotionals. One might even climb back up to Liturgy with the Divine Office. When we are not praying, we might be sharing God with others through evangelization. Lastly, all of these actions inspire us to do good things and to live a life full of meaning and joy in the culture!
Living on this mountain, each area inspires the next. What you worship will affect how you spend your time, what you share with others, and how you live. Similarly, a life well lived can be a witness to others and lead to evangelization. Then we can lead others to pray and worship heading back to the summit.
The Mountain Range
While we want to live on “The” mountain where the summit is the source of faith, there are other mountains in this range.
Anything that we can idolize or put on a pedastal might be another summit, because we go there seeking fulfillment that only God is meant to provide for.
Elevating something higher than it belongs creates a false peak. Whether it is sports, politics, or anything else we get passionate about, we want to be sure we are keeping them in the culture where they belong, and not pursuing them as an end or ultimate meaning of our life.
If you want what comes from the source, you want to be downstream from it – within the watershed. Anywhere that is being fed by the faith that comes from the source is a safe place to be because then everything is in its proper order.
If we leave the watershed or live life on a false peak, we run the risk of going thirsty.
Sadly, a lot of people live in a culture that is not fed from the source of faith, but that can change.
Bringing Others to the Source and Summit
There are two ways to bring the faith to those who are thirsting for it.
- Act of God
- Sharing Faith with Others
1. Act of God
It sounds like there is nothing you can do here, but think again. You can pray.
St. Therese of Liseaux wanted to be a missionary, and she was. However, she barely left her tiny town in France! Now she is the patron saint of missions and missionaries.
You might know someone far away from the source of faith. There is always hope. While they might not have access to the stream anytime soon, God can send them rain to sustain them until they find their way.
Need hope? Just read about St. Paul who went from persecuting Christians to become a co-author of the Bible!
2. Sharing the Faith with Others
Now for our role. We can go out to the world and try to bring others to the mountain. Missionaries have been doing this for centuries!
While it is good to want to bring people to the source, it can also be a risky mission if you head out into the desert alone without nourishment. Jesus sent his apostles out two by two for this reason.
There’s also more than one way to practically live out this mission, depending on your individual calling. Some are called to go out, while others are called to support the missions.
“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, then healers, helpers, administrators, speakers in various kinds of tongues.” – 1 Corinthians 12:28
St. Paul describes the body of Christ as many parts working together in the Church. So it is with bringing the source to the people and the people to the summit!
Like the Romans or the Colorado River Aquaducts, we can build an infrastructure, canals, channels, pipes anything to get that water to remote places. But this job takes more than builders. It takes funding, organizing, designing, planning, and more.
The Mission: Bring the Source and Summit to All Nations
This is the goal of the missions, to make sure that the Faith reaches all nations and that all nations have the opportunity to reach the summit (Matt 28:19-20).
We can start this mission by living our own lives on The Mounain of Faith. This begins by being fed by the source and summit, the Eucharist at Mass.
Then we can take that source out to the world as missionaries to change culture for the better.
If you are not called to be a missionary, you’re still apart of the mission! You can give. Missions rely on financial support from those back home in order to give their whole lives to those they are serving.
Even still, Christian artists, musicians, writers, and creators of all kind are working to create beauty in this culture that reflects truth and goodness.
We can help on the mission by supporting those who are actively sharing the faith in every way.
How do you live life on the mountain? What is your role in the mission?
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