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| Eritrean Catholic Mass at St. Anthony Parish Church, Jaffa, Israel |
Since moving back to Israel full time in 2012, on Christmas and Easter especially, I miss my Christian friends. In Atlanta, DC, and Boston where I had lived, they shared with me holy times and festivals (and I did with them special times in the Hebrew calendar). This winter, I attended an Eritrean friend's wedding in St. Anthony Parish [Catholic] Church in Jaffa. And, last Christmas Day, I was at Immanuel [Lutheran] Church in Jaffa and returned yesterday, Easter Sunday. Sitting in these churches, listening to hymns and prayers, Bible readings, creeds and confessions of faith, I am transported back to those services in the USA, the memories, and my friends.
"You must be Stephanie's friend," Angela introduced herself after the Easter Sunday service in Monroe, Georgia. "It's great to meet you. Welcome to St. Anna's Catholic Church. Do you have questions about the church or anything else?" "As a matter of fact," I replied, "I was wondering what meanings and messages the stained-glass window images in the church convey." Not missing a beat, Angela answered my question, image by image. And so ended our encounter, we thought.
From: Angela
Date: 2007/04/08
Subject: Fire of the Holy Spirit
Stephanie! It was so nice to meet your friend Tamar at Mass today. I know from your blog that she has a real interest in understanding her Christian brothers and sisters, so I want to give good info.
I always like when people ask me questions about our faith because it causes me to think more deeply and do a little studying. I had never actually pondered the symbolism of the window — it has been a "given" for me for quite some time (I think the window was installed when I was a child).
Symbols of the Holy Spirit
As I thought more about it, I realized that I misinterpreted part of my answer about the symbols of the Holy Spirit, and in realizing this, the meaning of the whole window (the Blessed Trinity) became clear to me for the first time. I hope you will share this clarification with Tamar and thank her for inspiring me to think about it.
All Christians, and we as Catholics, believe in a triune God — one holy, almighty and ever-living God who is experienced in a Trinity of three divine beings or persons, God the Father, Jesus Christ (God the Son) and the Holy Spirit (God the Spirit).
Alpha and Omega
God the Father, Yahweh, the I AM is represented in the window (shown on the right) as the Alpha and the Omega, Greek letters for the beginning and the end. I'm sure you both know that belief in God the Father is common to Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths - we all believe in the same GOD.Cross and Holy Eucharist
Jesus Christ (God the Son) is represented by the cross and by the Holy Eucharist [the chalice]. . .
Dogwood blossom
. . . and the resurrection is depicted in the dogwood blossoms [flanking the chalice].
Dove
The dove represents the Holy Spirit as described in Matthew 3:16, where the dove descends on Jesus after His baptism and God speaks from heaven, marking the beginning of Christ's public ministry.TAMAR'S REPLY : I love that the dove is a symbol with multiple meanings in the Hebrew Scriptures. In Genesis 8:8, Noah sent out the dove from the ark to see whether the waters had let up from the surface of the ground. Yet the dove found no resting place and returned to the ark because the waters were everywhere on earth. Twice again, Noah released the dove; first, it returned with an olive leaf in its bill (Genesis 8:11), and Noah understood that the waters had abated. The following week, he sent out the dove again; and, it did not return to the ark (Genesis 8:12). The flood was over, and the Lord said in His heart, ". . . I will not strike down all living things again (Genesis 8:21)." And so, the dove has come to represent peace.
Yet, the dove is also a symbol of war in the Hebrew Scriptures. ". . . for fear of the [oppressing] sword of the dove everyone will return to his people and . . . flee to his land (Jeremiah 50:16)." The contemporary Israeli writer Meir Shalev features in his novel "A Pigeon and a Boy" central characters that are wartime carrier pigeons, which represent both peace and war.
ANGELA'S REPLY:
So here is where I got mixed up: the fire is a representation of the Holy Spirit as it descended in the form of tongues of fire on our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Simon Peter and all of the Apostles at the Pentecost, following Jesus' ascension into heaven in Acts 2:3. This is when the Apostles were commissioned in their ministries. Our Catholic priests and bishops are direct successors of this commission in a two-thousand-year-old unbroken chain of succession. (And the Pope is a direct successor of Peter - the Rock, Matthew 16:18.) They are the only ones with a true commission directly from Christ to consecrate the Eucharist, and perform the other sacraments.My mistake was in referring to the Burning Bush, which was, of course, a manifestation of God the Father when he spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:2 many, many moons before the Holy Spirit came to guide us. They are the same in that they are all ONE GOD, but the reference was to the wrong DIVINE PERSON. The Burning Bush is God the Father, not the Holy Spirit.
TAMAR'S REPLY: Your mix-up is understandable. I have been studying the Hebrew Bible since I learned to read, and have been poring over source texts and multiple commentaries on them to understand meanings, messages, and teachings. To understand texts properly and fully, I will never know enough Hebrew and multiple related languages and disciplines (such as archeology, geology, histories, geographies, and ancient religions, peoples, laws, and languages in today's middle east, northern Africa, and Levantine regions!). Though I keep trying and with help such as yours, I inch along . . .
And, when you visit Israel and explore the southern Negev desert region, you might see burning bushes that are common in dry scorching environments. I learned this wonderful teaching: The real miracle of the burning bush was Moses' exquisite attention and focus on humble vegetation (the bush) and on an ordinary phenomenon (burning). He had noticed the bush as a devoted shepherd notices every sheep with none too small or insignificant. He proved that he could shepherd the flock of Hebrews (Israelites) from slavery to freedom.
And the conversation continues . . .
And so began our online interfaith dialog! Angela and I have continued learning in our stream-of-consciousness-like Q&A format, each one researching her faith tradition to ensure accurate answers. Often, weeks go by before we send an answer and, inevitably, another question.
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| Angela's "Hubby is Greg, Big Bro is Christopher and the little one is Daniel. My sweet boys — not quite three years apart." |
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