We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!
Editor: This text was first presented a spiritual retreat for the General Government of the Missionaries of the Holy Family in December 2011.
About the painted glass work
The painting on glass in the cloister of the Missionaries of the Holy Family in Betzdorf, Germany, begin by making us contemplate two very modest symbols: a couple of chromosomes inserted in the spiral of DNA. In his hereditary heritage, humans have 46 chromosomes, arranged in 23 pairs.
Each pair contains one mother's chromosome and one from the father. The set of chromosomes define the hereditary characteristic of man. The chromosomes are arranged according to a specific plan. From these hereditary characteristics of parents and ancestors, something completely new emerges.
Thus every human, seen being soul and body and seen in both the spiritual and corporal dimension, is created by God in a unique and unrepeatable way.
The pairs of chromosomes and the DNA spiral, which we find in the complex of the glass paintings of the cloister of Betzdorf, are metaphors of humanity and warn us about the following reality: Every person appears in the light of this world... only once.
The motifs and symbols in this painting
The dominant motif of these glass paintings is the logo of the Missionaries of the Holy Family (MSF). At the center emerges the gold-colored cross, which, together with the star of Bethlehem, as a symbol of God's goodness towards humanity manifested in the mystery of the incarnation, represents the symbol of redemption.
Dynamic spirals depart from this symbol of Christ. They mean that life and the Good News come out of Christ. These then spread to the universe.
Furthermore, in this representation, we see skeletons of meatless but greedy fish, which allow themselves to be carried away by the current. But some of the gold-colored fish, transformed by the gospel, reinvigorated and shaped by the Spirit of Christ, move against the current.
We are invited to insert ourselves in this dynamic to participate in the realization of the work of salvation.
About the artist of this work
The artist, Uwe Fossemer, who designed this painting on glass, sees the following invitation: “Oh! humans, you cannot escape the question of God. God's invitation exists; make use of this gift!"
"What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5-6).
“Those who don't belong to our family therefore are no less our brothers and sisters, for they have the same Heavenly Father as us. Why should their salvation not be our concern?” (Fr. Jean Berthier, M.S., Le Culte de la Sainte Famille (Devotion to the Holy Family), pg. 233).
(Republished with permission of the Missionaries of the Holy Family)