Thursday, March 5, 2009

Christ at the Center of New York City





The Window of the Incarnation is one of a series of magnificent stained glass windows designed and executed by Joep Nicolas which may be found in the Chapel of Our Lady of Woodside located at St. Sebastian parish in Woodside.
St. Sebastian is located at the intersection of 58th Street and both Woodside and Roosevelt Avenues in Queens New York. About four blocks to the south on the westbound service road island of Queens Boulevard, there is a marker, installed by the New York City Parks Department, indicating "The Geographic Center of NYC." It's nice to think that, Jesus, His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, sacramentally present in the Holy Eucharist in the tabernacle of St. Sebastian Church is only a few blocks away from the center of our City.
If you look at the images in the window, on the lower right are depicted the four Evangelists ,symbolically depicted (from the bottom, Luke, Mark, Matthew on the left, and John on the right). The top panel invites us to contemplate the newborn Christ-child in the arms of His Blessed Mother and the panel at the bottom left portrays Christ "The Man" after the Crucifixion, once again in the arms of Mary, the Mother. At birth and at death she cradles His body and contemplates His glory!