Written by Dave Rempel
Sixteen stained glass windows adorn the sides of the worship space at Ascension. Inspiration for the windows was taken from the fact that in Europe long ago, the faithful would learn the Bible from stories depicted in windows. It was intended that Ascension’s windows could be similarly educational. What follows is a meditation on one of the 16 windows. Look for additional reflections in future editions of the Bulletin or on this Parish Blog.
The Holy Family’s Flight to Egypt
Get up, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt… Herod ordered the massacre of all the boys, two years old and under, in Bethlehem and its environs… (Matthew 2:13, 16)
The lone scene on the south wall from the New Testament is not unrelated to its neighbors — just as the Old Testament scenes presage Jesus’s coming, this scene evokes themes and events from the history of the Jews. Most obviously, the pyramid and the Holy Family’s destination recall the Israelites’ captivity in Egypt, while the harsh landscape recalls that people’s subsequent exile in the desert.
This is really Joseph’s story, and he is given prominence in the depiction, as he takes the lead to save his family (whose faces are muted by comparison). It is his faith and trust in God, who instructed him in multiple dreams, that is celebrated. This is a story of salvation, but it is the salvation of Jesus (from the massacre)—and thus the story (like the Old Testament scenes) foretells our salvation by Jesus. Joseph’s green cloak, which pops against all that brown, suggests new life (for this Family) and an escape from death (note the pyramid, a tomb).
Wandering and exile eventually lead to a better place, just as Jesus’s exile on Earth as a man opened up the promised land of Heaven for all of us.