Home > Our Church

CHURCH WINDOWS

During the 40 days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, Jesus appeared to his disciples several times. Many of these appearances have been beautifully illustrated by Lua Breen in the stained glass windows of our Church.

We suggest that these 14 'Stations of The Resurrection' or 'Stations of Light' should be visited in a devotional manner like the 14 Stations of the Cross.

He is Risen

I

The Resurrection

.....the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people 'He has risen from the dead'"

Matthew 27:62-66

Jesus is changing from death to new life - different from ours. He is enclosed in a "mandorla" which emphasis the holiness and difference of his glorified body. The Cross has become the Tree of Life bearing much fruit.

On the left, the opened-up tomb is guarded by an angel and the inscription means "He who sees me, sees the Father".

On the right, the "sleeping guards" (!!!) recall the fake news concocted by the authorities.

His disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept.

Matthew 28:13

II

Women at the tomb

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away..... suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning said to them "He is not here. He has risen!!!"

Luke 24:1-5

The women who had followed Jesus approach the tomb to anoint the body, hastily buried prior to the Jewish Sabbath.

Luke records that they were puzzled, and then frightened by the appearance of the men in dazzling apparel who reassured them that Jesus had risen.

The bright shaft of light penetrating the gloomy tomb projects a hope greater than they expected.

III

Angel speaking to the women

Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week Mary of Magdala and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.... an angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat upon it. ..the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where he lay".

Matthew 28:1-3, 5-8

Matthew gives an extra detail: an angel had flicked away the huge stone and contemptuously sat upon it. He reassured the women that Jesus had risen, as he said he would. The increasing light behind them emphasises their growing hope and reassurance.

IV

Peter gazes. John Ponders.

They both ran. Then Simon Peter came following ..... and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying and the napkin which had been on his head not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who reached the tomb first, also went in and he saw and believed.

John 20:4-8

Hearing from the women about the empty tomb, Peter and John ran to see for themselves.

Peter gazes at the abandoned shroud. Deep in thought.

The other disciple (the one whom Jesus loved) sits on the door step, wondering, head in hands, trying to find words to put around this event.

V

Jesus meets Mary of Magdala

Jesus said to her "Mary, Do not hold me for I have not yet ascended to the Father but go to my brethren and say to them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

John 20:16

Mary of Magdala questions a man she supposes to be a gardener and only when he addresses her by name does she realise that it is Jesus.

He prevents her from clinging to him since he has not yet ascended to His Father.

The relationship will be different from now onwards when he will not be physically present to her.

VI

Symbols of Peter: Boat, Anchor, Keys, and Cockerel

He saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them. ‘Follow me and I will make you fishers of men’.

Matthew 4:18-22

‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.'

Matthew 16.15-19

‘I do not know this man of whom you speak‘. At once the cock crowed a second time and Peter remembered.

Mark 14:72

This window defines Peter’s past, and his future. The Anchor, and his Boat (which is often seemed to be sinking), are metaphors of the Church, that shall also remain safe while Christ is in it. The steadfast Anchor was in times of persecution a cryptic symbol, because embedded within it is the sign of the Cross. The Keys represent the authority entrusted to Peter by Jesus, the Cockerel reminds us of Peter’s thrice betrayal and the promise ‘once you have recovered, you in turn must strengthen your brothers’

Luke 22:31

VII

Jesus appears to the Disciples

On the evening of that day, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them ‘Peace be with you’. Jesus said to them again ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you’. And when He had said this, he breathed on them and said to them. ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven, if you retain the sins of any they retained.'

John 20:19-23

The disciples were in disarray, did not know what had happened to Jesus and were afraid to go out in public. They were in ‘lock-down’ behind closed doors when Jesus appeared among them. His body carried the wounds of the crucifixion which he revealed to them. He forgave them and sent them out to continue his work. ‘Peace’ שָּׁגּזּמּ ‘Shalom’ in Hebrew can mean a thousand things from ’Hello’ to ’Peace’. In this context it implies that Jesus is not judging his disciples but his greeting carries the sentiment ’I understand you. Can we start again please?’

VIII

Jesus appears to Thomas

The doors were shut but Jesus came and stood among them and said ‘Peace be with you’. Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side, doubt no longer, but believe’. Thomas answered him ‘My Lord and my God.’ Jesus said to him. ‘Have you believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

John 20:26-29

The Apostle Thomas was not present when Jesus appeared to the disciples and he refused to believe that Jesus had come back to them. He must have thought this was wishful thinking and demanded hard evidence. At a later stage Jesus again appeared. He invited Thomas to touch his wounds. And Thomas gives the most definitive pronouncement as to who Jesus is.

Thomas is sometimes rashly named ’Doubting Thomas’. This is unfair. Several times in the gospels he asks for clarification eg when Jesus told them to feed the 5000 it was Thomas who asked how so many could be fed with so little. While the others remained behind locked doors was Thomas out on the streets, trying to discover what was happening?

IX

In Word Symbol and Sacrament

When he was at table in the house he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him but he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other. ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us.’ They set out that instant and returned to Jerusalem and they told their story of what happened on the road and how they recognised him in the ‘breaking of the bread’

Luke 24:27-35

Disappointed disciples on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus were discussing recent events in Jerusalem. A stranger questioned them about their conversation. They told how the body of Jesus had disappeared, and how they had hoped that he was the promised Messiah. The stranger interpreted the scriptures for them concerning the prophecies about Jesus. Later when he blessed bread and broke it they recognised Jesus in the ‘breaking of bread’ and returned to report their story in Jerusalem.

X

Stranger on the Shore

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the sea of Tiberius and again in this way...Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast’. Now none of the disciples dared ask him. ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John 21:1-14

The disciples had been told that Jesus would meet them in Galilee and they travelled there. Some of them were returning from an unsuccessful fishing trip and saw a man on the beach who instructed them to recast their net on the right side of the boat. They did so and an astonishing catch was nrtted. One of the disciples, again described as the disciple whom Jesus loved, recognised the man as Jesus. He said so to Peter who impetuously jumped into the water before the boat had reached the shore. Jesus had bread and fish ready to eat and they shared breakfast.

XI

James the 'brother' of the Lord

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

1 Corinthians 15:7

Three years after Paul's conversion, James was an important leader of the Church in Jerusalem (Galatians 1:18–19), where he assumed even more significance after King Herod Agrippa I of Judaea in about 44AD beheaded the Apostle St. James, son of Zebedee, and after Peter left Jerusalem.

Acts 12:1–17

There is a suggestion that he was a ‘brother’ of the Lord, in that it might be used in the same way contemporary Black Americans describe their relationships.

There was a suggestion that during the ministry of Jesus his mother and ‘brothers’ thought he had gone mad and arrived to take him home.

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’

Mark 3:20, 31

The accusation contained in the Gospel of John 10:19-20 is more literal.

‘There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, ‘He has a demon, and he is mad; why listen to him?’

The relatives of Jesus may have felt concern for him that he was in danger of getting into trouble with powerful religious and political figures and so they came to take him home.

Reconciliation with James may reflect a healing of a misunderstanding.

This image may represent a reconciliation within families. A perennial necessity!!

XII

Next he appeared to 500

‘Then he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.'

1 Corinthians 15.6

This illustration invites us to think of Jesus’ appearances not only in terms of biblical times but as being relevant to our own lives today when he continues to relate to people of the contemporary world as depicted in this window.

He is still relevant in the district portrayed here, showing some of Randalstown’s local landmarks such as the serrated roof of a local factory, the chimneys of the Old Bleach Mill, a blue van, St Brigid’s Church of Ireland and a variety of age groups and genders - from infants to the follicly challenged!

We may muse whether these ‘anonymous’ people are not playful allusions to some contemporary characters!!!

The enigmatic image of a JCB digger refers to a similar type of machine which ‘disappeared’ from the site during the construction of the new church.

XIII

Saul on the Road to Damascus

Last of all as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the Apostles, unfit to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.

1 Corinthians 15:8-10

From Persecutor to Propagator.

Saul of Tarsus presided at the death of the first martyr, Stephen.

Relentless in his persecution of the infant Christian Church he was on his way to Damascus in pursuit of Christians when he was struck from his horse and had a vision. A voice from Heaven asked ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?’

Saul - later Paul, became one of the greatest Christian missionaries.

In the chaotic jumble of this image the artist encourages us to consider whether Paul’s conversion was dramatic and sudden (as conversions often are) or had it been working in Paul’s mind for a long time?

Perhaps since when Stephen was dying, he prayed for his murderers.

XIV

The Ascension

Then he led them out as far as Bethany and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

Luke 24:50-53

...as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into Heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes and said ‘Men of Galilee why do you stand looking into Heaven. This Jesus who was taken up from you into Heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into Heaven.

Acts 1:9-11

Jesus had been with his apostles and people for three years. He had handed on his mission to build up his Kingdom on earth. After the Resurrection they had experiences of him being with them, to forgive them, and to commission them to bring the gospel ’to the ends of the world.’ In this image Jesus has ascended. The mission continues.

God goes up with shouts of joy; the Lord goes up with trumpet blast. Sing praise for God, sing praise, sing praise to our God sing praise.’

Psalms 47 5-6

As the Apostles stand staring into the sky two angels ask ‘Why?’ It is as if the angels say to the apostles and to us 'Do not just stand and stare. Go out. Preach the Gospel by the manner of your lives’.