July 22, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Window Stories: North Nave – Rear

The north wall of the nave (on the right as you enter the church) has three windows, and the rearmost window on the north side depicts Christ blessing children.

Jesus, centered in the frame, has three children gathered around him, while holding an infant in his left arm. The oldest is a girl I would put at about 12-years old and she is holding two bouquets of flowers, one white and one orange (although the white flowers could be a headpiece or crown to contrast the crown of thorns Jesus will wear later). If you didn't know this child was a girl, the artist makes it explicit by putting her in a pink dress or tunic.

A second child appears to be a young boy of about 8-years old who is wearing a white tunic. The third child could be either male or female, about 4-years old and is wearing a green tunic. Jesus is reaching down with his right hand to touch him or her on the head. A woman stands to Jesus' right, and is most likely the Blessed Virgin Mary as she is garbed in the traditional blue.

Out of the six figures in the window, only Jesus is shown with a halo. This is a departure from other windows that depict Mary with a halo and often show children with halos to convey their innocence.

The left margin has a butterfly, which is a symbol of resurrection and/or new life and could have been chosen as a nod to children who grow and change into adults over time. The right margin has an image of what I'm guessing is a beehive. This has several meanings in Christian art such as a good work ethic, the purity of the Church (because worker bees don't mate), and the community of the Church (many individuals working for one goal), among other things.

All three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have stories about Jesus blessing children over the objections of the disciples, and in each Jesus says something along the lines of, “It is to these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” There are many interpretations of this, but my favorite is for us to view the kingdom of heaven with the same awe, wonder, and fascination that children often view life. In sharing stories of our faith, can we do it with the same excitement and fascination that children have when showing a new bug to their parent?

We all have faith stories to share. What's yours?

Blessings,

Todd+

July 15, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Window Stories: North Nave – Center

The north wall of the nave (on the right as you enter the church) has three windows. The center window bears an image of three women meeting an angel. The window is titled, “Resurrection,” and while it doesn't give a scriptural citation, this scene comes from Mark 16:1, as that is the only resurrection story with three women and one angel. The women are identified as Salome, Mary the mother of James, and Mary Magdalene. In the left margin is a peacock. The peacock has been part of Christian art symbolizing immortality, resurrection (new, vibrant feathers replacing older feathers when it molts), and possibly the many-eyed creature of Revelation 4. The right margin contains a pomegranate – a symbol of Christ's suffering, the blood he shed, and the many seeds representing the unity of believers in the one Church.

The women in the window aren't named, but I'm guessing that Salome is in gold, Mary the mother of James is in blue, and Mary Magdalene is in a purple-ish red. Unfortunately we really don't know who exactly Salome was, but there are several conjectures as to who she might be without having a clear identity. The Blessed Virgin Mary is always depicted in blue, and I wonder if “Mary the mother of James” refers to James, the brother of Jesus, thereby making this woman Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary Magdalene is often depicted in red from a story where she proclaimed the resurrection to Emperor Tiberius who said, “If Christ is risen, this egg is red,” and the white egg became red.

In Matthew, Luke, and John, the women (woman in John) leave the empty tomb and proclaim the resurrection to the eleven disciples. In Mark, however, the women leave the tomb and “say nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” I love this ending because it's an open-ended story. It tells us the resurrection happened, but then leaves it up to us to proclaim the good news of the resurrection. This gospel reminds us that we can either say nothing to anyone because we are afraid, or we can be the ones to proclaim the good news. If we do not tell this most important story of our faith, it ends with us. But if we tell the story of the resurrection, and how that story of new life relates to us, the story will continue.

We all have faith stories to share. What's yours?

Blessings,

Todd+

July 8, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Window Stories: North Nave – Front

The north wall of the nave (on the right as you enter the church) has three windows. The front window (closest to the lectern) bears an image of Jesus carrying a lamb with a ram on his right and a ewe on his left. He carries a staff or shepherd's crook in his left hand, and wears a red robe draped with a gold (?) mantle (again signifying his human/divine nature). In the margins of the window is a depiction of a lamb carrying a flag (a traditional rendering of Christ, the Lamb of God) and the IHC* Christogram. The window is titled, “Christ the Good Shepherd.”

The story of the Good Shepherd comes from John 10:11-18 (11-16 is often read at funerals), and is part of a longer section where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees about who he is. It is in this passage where we hear that Jesus cares for all of God's people and that he is willing to die for their safety. It's also in this passage where we learn that Jesus is shepherd to sheep (people) not belonging to the flock of Israel – good news for us Gentiles!

This story and this window have deep meanings. The story of the good shepherd reaffirms who Jesus is and what he does throughout this particular gospel. It was John the Baptist who first identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. The image hearkens back to the Passover lamb that is sacrificed, tying Jesus to this sacrificial act of God's people. And Jesus' statement that he has “other sheep that do not belong to this fold” further strengthens John's comments that he has come to take away the sin of the world and Jesus' statement that God so loved the world that everyone who believes in him may not perish.

The image of Jesus carrying the lamb in the window reinforces the fact that Jesus cares for the most vulnerable among us. And the ram could be – could be – seen as the ram provided for Abraham to sacrifice instead of his son Isaac.

The story behind this window is that Jesus came to save the entire world from sin, that Jesus has other sheep we don't know about, and that Jesus was willing to die to protect and save us.

We all have faith stories to share. What's yours?

Blessings,

Todd+

* We've all seen the IHC and IHS symbols in churches but we may not know what they mean. IHS is the more common of the two, but they both reference Jesus Christ with no discernible difference. It comes from the first three letters of Jesus in Greek: iota (rendered as an I that morphed into the English J), eta (H in ancient Greek that has evolved into an “ee” sound), and sigma (originally rendered as the Latin S at the end of words, but can look like a C in the middle of words). So the JES in Jesus was rendered as IHS or IHC. Over time other meanings were (incorrectly) attributed to the letters, the most common one being the Latin Iesus Hominum Salvator (Jesus, Savior of Men).

July 1, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Window Stories: Choir

On the wall of the choir is a window of St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. She is dressed in an ankle-length purple skirt, blue blouse with gold collar, and a teal shawl, and she is depicted playing an organ. There are three Easter lilies in a vase next to the organ. On the left margin of the window is a harp that signifies her patronage of music, while the right margin shows a kettle sitting on logs with flames coming up out of it signifying her martyrdom (even though she died by sword not by burning). She is flanked over her head and shoulders by two angels.

As with any story of saints and martyrs, you're apt to find more than one; but there are commonalities. It's said that she was born into Roman nobility (hence the purple skirt and gold collar). At some point in her early life she took a vow of virginity (the blue blouse). Despite this vow, her parents forced her to marry a pagan nobleman. At the wedding she sat apart from everyone singing to God in her heart, thereby leading to her becoming the patron saint of music. Shortly after the wedding she told her husband she was being protected by an angel of God and that if he violated her God would punish him, but would love him if he respected her. Her husband asked for proof, so she sent him to be baptized by Pope Urban I, and then he saw the angel standing with Cecilia and crowing her with lilies.

She was martyred either between 176 and 180 or around 230 by being struck on the neck three times with a sword. She lived for three days afterward and asked the pope to convert her home into a church.

The first music festival in her honor was held in 1570. Pope Sixtus V founded the National Academy of Saint Cecilia in Rome in 1585 invoking both St. Cecilia and Pope Gregory the Great. Pope Gregory developed Gregorian chant used by clergy and monks, while Cecilia symbolizes the central role of all music in the liturgy.

Music is an integral part of our liturgy. It is used to praise God (the Gloria or other songs of praise), to tell stories (I sing a song of the saints of God and others), to focus our attention (Lord, be thy word my rule and other sequence hymns), and to draw us deeper into the presence of God (Let all mortal flesh keep silence and other Communion hymns). Music binds us together in a way that words alone don't often do – I've left church whistling/humming a particular tune, but not always reciting the Creed.

The story of Saint Cecilia is one of devotion, dedication, and determination. In her time and in her way she found a path to putting God first in her life. As we make our way through our own lives, may Cecilia inspire us to connect with God more deeply.

We all have faith stories to share. What's yours?

Blessings,

Todd+