The Heavens Are Telling
The Glory of God

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. … When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:1, 3–5

When we look up to the ceiling we see a multitude of stars, each hand painted (from stencils). The stars are in ordered lines suggesting that God's creation follows a divinely ordained plan which is fixed or permanent. This plan we know to be our salvation in Christ.

King David, looking to the stars (more astronomy than astrology) sees in them the magnificence of God's creative power in the vastness of the heavens, and then sort of looks over his shoulder at humanity in our smallness by comparison. He realizes that with the wonder of creation before him, humanity alone shares mortally in the image and likeness of God.

I looked, and behold, a storm wind came from the north, a great cloud with flashing fire and brightness all around it, and something like a glowing alloy out of the fire. From within it came the likeness of four living creatures … each had a human face, the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:4–10

What Ezekiel is describing are the Cherubim who stand before the throne of God in the heavens and worship God continually. We too in our assembly in the church worship God and share in the heavenly worship: the "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts" is the antiphon or chorus sung by the angels and us.

The four faces represent the highest creatures of creation, as understood in ancient times. Not just in the book of Ezekiel — these faces have been interpreted by Christian scholars such as St. Augustine and St. Jerome, and we find these faces appended to human figures in the Book of Kells (ca. 800 AD).

"Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take notice of me, when I am a foreigner?" But Boaz answered her … "May the Lord reward you for your deeds, and may you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge!" Ruth 1:10–12

Ruth speaks to us of faithfulness to elders, commitment, strength of character, and humility. She with her mother-in-law left her homeland (Moab) and went to live in Israel. She was gleaning the grain from the harvested fields and met Boaz who heard of her virtues. Because of her faithfulness to Naomi, Boaz chose her as his wife — and she would become the great-grandmother to King David.

A migrant, fleeing famine, and then settling in a new country, Ruth can speak to the Irish immigrants who, fleeing famine, came to this region and in time would establish this parish.

Ruth is depicted holding a "sheaf of barley," the offering in the temple on the day after Passover. This offering is called the omer, and that word means "flourishing" or "abundance" — what every farmer in Fallowfield and everywhere hopes for in their harvest.

Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp. Psalm 49:1–4

King David came to the throne of Israel from humble beginnings: the youngest of the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem, the one sent out to tend the sheep and who probably lived "out there," away from the family. Not descended from a line of monarchs, he was chosen by God and anointed king by the prophet Samuel. And then the adventure began.

Saul was still king, though he had been rejected by God for having rejected God's word, and David was the chosen and anointed of God. For between ten and fifteen years Saul reigned after David was anointed. In this time David grew in knowledge and understanding, in strength and perspective. It didn't make him perfect as a person or king, but we see in David that God takes time to prepare us for the work to which we are called.

Finally, in Psalm 49 we read about solving a riddle to the music of the harp. Here at St. Patrick Parish we value the role of music ministry, described by a parishioner as "a force multiplier." This isn't the old saying that singing is praying twice. Music in liturgy is a way not only of praying but of opening our mind and heart to the realm of the spiritual, wherein we encounter God with feelings and emotions.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings … And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." Isaiah 6:1–3

Isaiah, seeing the glory of God in the heavens, recognizes his humanity and the brokenness of the human condition. God provides a remedy for him in that moment — a purification through the agency of a Seraph. In each of the panels of the central square there is an angel with wings extended. These are the Seraphs or Seraphim. Though customarily depicted with the colour red (seraph in Hebrew means fiery) we chose green to reflect St. Patrick and the Irish history of the parish.

Isaiah, as seen in the sacred art, is holding the tongs with the live coal in his right hand. We then recognize that through the words of the prophet, God will make known the remedy by which we are purified — and this is what is written on Isaiah's scroll: he shall be called Emmanuel.

When we recognize our humanity and brokenness, which God heals through his Son, we too can then say with Isaiah, "Here I am, send me." These words also foreshadow the incarnation when God sent his Son into the world to bring us salvation by the forgiveness of our sins.

O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Micah 6:3–4

The books of Moses (the Torah) refer to "Miriam the Prophetess," and the commentary on the Torah names her as one of the seven major female prophets of Israel. Scripture describes her alongside Moses and Aaron as delivering the Jews from exile in Egypt. According to the ancient sources referencing this passage from Micah, just as Moses led the men out of Egypt and taught them Torah, so too Miriam led the women and taught them Torah.

In our church, Miriam is shown with a tambourine — the instrument with which she led the people of Israel in the praises of God after crossing the Red Sea. But more than just leading them in singing the praises of God, Miriam spoke God's word to them, she taught them, and was an acknowledged leader right up there with Moses and Aaron.

Miriam inspires us to listen to God's word and to believe that we too can speak, teach, and lead God's people. She, alongside Moses and Aaron, was a prophet of the Lord and a teacher of the Law.

In the center medallion there are five images that speak to unseen realities: the five loaves and two fish; the lamb with banner; the Chi-Rho; the Hebrew name of God; and the cross and anchor. These five images can speak to us of Jesus and who he is for us.

King David tells us in Psalm 19 that the heavens are telling the glory of God. We see images of that glory in the sacred art which adorns our ceiling. There is one other element that can speak to us — the Celtic knot and overlapped circle found in the four corners of the crossing (the intersection of the nave, transepts, and sanctuary).

The Celtic Knot is the trefoil, or three-leaf design, representing the Trinity, as St. Patrick so eloquently taught. These trefoils point downward, which might say the Trinity does not exist in the glory of the heavens apart from humanity. There is a divine inclination toward the created world and an invitation for the created to know the Creator.

The trefoil is intertwined with a circle — and a circle, in ancient art, was a symbol of the heavens: without a beginning or an end. The trefoil in a circle speaks of God's dwelling in the heavens. But these designs are at the four corners of the crossing. Again from ancient design, the world, the earth is represented by a square, which is where the expression "the four corners of the earth" finds its origin. In our church we have heaven above and earth below.

The trefoil at these four corners shows us that God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is present not only in the heavens with those depicted in the sacred art, and countless others through the ages of salvation history. God is here with us, in our world and among us in our human experience and condition.