galilee3: Light, Water and Alleluia

After the previous rather sombre painting and anxious story, I now give you a more lively picture and optimistic story.

Light, Water & Alleluia

Inspired by the homily of Pope Benedict XVI for the Easter Vigil Mass I painted my latest painting. He asked what Christ’s rising from the dead means for us today, explaining what lies behind the symbolism of LIGHT and WATER, and the deep significance of the ALLELUIA.

LIGHT

God’s creation begins with the command: "Let there be light".
The resurrection of Jesus is an eruption of light.
The Pascal Candle burns. And is thereby consumed: Cross and Resurrection are inseparable
The early Church described Baptism as fotismos, as a sacrament of illumination. God says to the candidate: "Let there be light".

WATER

Christ descended into the sea, into the waters of death, so as we may rise up again as new creatures.
Christ spoke to the samaritan woman of the new well, the water of true life. He himself became the spring.
From him the great river pours forth, which in Baptism renews the world and makes it fruitful. The great river of living water, his gospel makes the earth fertile. In our baptism the Lord makes us not only persons of light, but also sources from living water bursts forth to others.

ALLELUIA

At Easter vigil we Christians into this song because we too, through the power of God, have been drawn from the water and liberated for true life.
Mozes'community is located in the midst of the Red Sea, in a sea which is paradoxically ice and fire at the same time. Must not the Church, so to speak, walk on the sea, through the fire and cold? Humanly speaking, she ought to sink. But at Easter Vigil she intones the song of praise of thanksgiving of the saved. She is standing on the history’s water of death and yet she has already risen.
St Paul illustrates this situation with the words: we are " dying, and see- we are alive".

(2Co 6: 9).
The Lord’s saving hand holds us up, thus we can already sing the song of the saved, the new song of the risen ones: alleluia! Amen

(The above text is from the Pope’s homily.)

My painting humbly illustrates the three symbols of Easter.

Still in Easter time I wish you all it's Blessing

God Bless

John Heijnen