The interior of the church of St. Jean Baptiste was designed to be a visual meditation. Upon entering the church we’re immediately struck by the space. The ceiling rising sixty-five feet, and the dome one hundred and twenty-five. The lavish colors, enhanced by gold and silver leaf, immediately come into focus. Then, little by little, the fifty glorious sained-glass windows infuse a mystical and glorious light to the experience.
Walking about the church we note details like the mosaic stations of the cross along the north and south walls and the Eucharistic symbols on the ceiling: cornucopia, bunches of grapes and sheaves of wheat, the six paintings of the sky inviting us to God’s heaven and the words of the hymn by St. Thomas Aquinas in praise of the Eucharist.
Then we stand before the great sixty-five-foot altar, a monument to the saints who gave testimony to the eucharist by the teachings. Twenty saints support the altar while four life-size saints stand at the top, looking down on us from heaven.
In the semi-circular canopy above the monstrance the mosaic depicts the five patrons of St. Jean Baptiste: Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and Sts. Peter and Paul who are honored a second time in the windows in the dome. Peter is identified by the keys he holds, the keys to the Kingdom, and Paul by the two-edged sword of God’s word.
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, we acknowledge our place with them in the Communion of Saints. We celebrate their patronage and ponder their witness.
Jesus built the Church on the foundation of Peter’s faith. We recently gave Pope Leo the symbolic ring of the fisherman reminding him that his faith must continue to be a foundation for the Church.
St. Paul tells us in his second letter to his co -worker Timothy that he is being poured out like a libation. This is a call to us to empty ourselves of ego and to pour out of lives in the service of God and one another.
Today we pray as the communion of saints, each one of us united in faith with those who have entered the fulness of the Kingdom of God. We pray for the Church on earth. May our faith continue to grow and deepen within each one of us so that we may be a light for the world. May God bless us with preachers and teachers like Paul to guide the Church as we navigates the storms that threaten our world. Saint Peter and Saint Paul pray for us.
