Our text says that Jesus "went up to the mountain" and, oh, what a beautiful mountain it is! The Mount of the Beatitudes is not all that high, but in Galilee it is the equivalent of Mount Everest. Stretched out below is the most fertile agricultural land in Israel, intricately laid out next to the jeweled sea, that breathtaking, blue prism reflecting the hot beauty of the Middle Eastern sun. A few years ago, after wandering around on the hilltop for a while, our pilgrim group decided that this was the place we wanted to celebrate communion - that here, on this mountain, we would share the Living Bread just as Jesus shared the Living Word.

The nuns who take care of this holy site told us where the best spot would be - right on the edge of the hill, with the sea shimmering below. There was,…