The Catholic Church is a faith rich in symbols. Our church crucifixes and other sacred images truly signify Christ, who is glorified in them. St. John Damascene, as quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, notes, “The beauty of the images moves me to contemplation, as a meadow delights the eyes and subtly infuses the soul with the glory of God.”
The Sesquicentennial Jubilee image, a static-cling decal that was located in the envelope packet in the January 7th Today’s Catholic, shows Our Lady looking up to the face of her Son at his death on the cross.
The image is adapted from the marble images at the altar of St. Patrick Church in Fort Wayne. The altar was designed by H.W. Schwarte from the DaPrato Company of New York and Chicago and quarried and hand carved in Pietrasanta, Italy, and placed in the church in 1912.
Through computer technology and graphic manipulation, Kristina Schott, a graphic artist and parishioner of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, was able to take photographs shot by Neal Bruns and produce the image that has become the sesquicentennial logo. This was one of many designs presented to Bishop John M. D’Arcy to review.
Bishop D’Arcy told Today’s Catholic that he hesitated to use the logo at first. “The jubilee year is a year of joy,” he said. But the image grew on him because “all graces come from Christ’s death. From the pierced side of Christ came forth blood and water and the church has always seen that as a reference to the Eucharist and baptism. It is from his death and resurrection that we have been saved.”
Pope John Paul II, in the new millennium, encouraged everyone to contemplate the face of Christ and to contemplate it with Mary who knew that face better than anyone, from Christ’s birth to his death on the cross.
Also, at the foot of the cross, Christ said to Our Lady, “Mother, behold your son” and to St. John, “Son, behold your Mother.”
These concepts and the historical significance that the image “seemed to be faithful to the people who came here in the early days” won the bishop’s favor. Bishop D’Arcy said, “It just fit in perfectly,” and was enhanced by the traveling Jubilee Pilgrim Cross being carried now throughout the diocese and completing its journey at the University of Notre Dame on Aug. 18.
A motto of love, service
“His steadfast love endures forever,” the motto for the sesquicentennial, is the motto that marks the episcopacy of Bishop D’Arcy. It comes from Psalm 117. “It seemed to me appropriate for what I was experiencing as I was preparing to be a bishop,” Bishop D’Arcy told Today’s Catholic.
At age 42, Bishop D’Arcy said that he was not really expecting to be made a bishop. As rumors surged, he began to read about the office of bishop as seen through Vatican II.
His research revealed, “The episcopacy is a ministry of love,” he said. “Christ said to Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?’ And Peter said, ‘You know that I love you.’
“The episcopacy is a gift of love — not primarily to the man who receives it, but to the people in that you are supposed to give your life to the people as a way of love,” Bishop D’Arcy said. “... Your motto is supposed to typify your episcopal ministry, which is a life of love. That means you have to be willing to do hard things that would be misunderstood for him, for Christ, for the good of the people. And I’ve tried to do that.”
Bishop D’Arcy’s day of ordination itself also had a strong sense of God’s love — that it was eternal, it was strong, it overcame our weakness and sins.
Feb. 2 will mark the 50th anniversary of Bishop D’Arcy’s ordination to the priesthood. He will have a celebration on April 15, 2007 the Sunday following Easter.
