Parish in Process

This week marked another stage in the life of Christ the Redeemer Parish. Work began on the installation of our stained glass windows in the church. After being in our worship space nearly five years, we are blessed to add this prayerful and inspiring art to our assembly.

The windows in the front area of the church flow naturally from the mystery which our name celebrates, Christ the Redeemer. Hopefully this window will allow us to see who we are and to enter more deeply into the mystery of who we are in our relationship to Christ. A church building and the art within it express in visible form who we are as a people of faith. A local parish is the Body of Christ gathered in his name to the praise of the Father.

Earlier in the history of the parish, people discovered that as a community of believers, rooted in their baptism-confirmation, we’re called and gathered around the Lord’s Table. Since 1972, parishioners have gathered for Eucharist. At the beginning, it was here and there in the Sterling Park area. The Table and the People moved and celebrated the Eucharist. Sometimes it was in the basement of the Friars’ Residence on North York Road, other times it was in the First Baptist Church across the street, then it was the Sterling Middle School, and finally in the Park View High School auditorium. The parish was a very pilgrim people, even with religious education in the homes of parishioners, until we built our present building in 2000.

In 1980, the community celebrated in its new worship center, with its chapel, library, and two meeting rooms. The parish continued to emphasize that the important element of worship was that a community of believers gathered. Christ the Redeemer Parish moved another step forward in its journey along the way to the Kingdom.

Church and Pastoral Center

Most of us still remember the excitement of celebrating the dedication of our new church and blessing of our Pastoral Center in February 2000. The look and ambiance had changed in the new space as we gathered to celebrate the Dedication Eucharist with Bishop Loverde, but we were still the People of God on the move. The parish had grown and there were more of us, but we were still gathered in the one Lord around his Table. There we could praise God in the energy and power of his Spirit.

Eucharist and Sacraments

The Eucharist continues to be for Christ the Redeemer Parish, and through the years, “the source and summit” of Christian life. At the heart of the Eucharist is the mystery of the death and rising of the Lord. We are invited as we gather at the Lord’s Table to enter the life-giving mystery of dying and rising in Christ. We begin that journey in Baptism and we are energized by the Spirit in Confirmation. We continue our life in Christ through all of the sacraments of the Church.

Stained glass windows in the history of Church architecture have been catechetical and inspirational expressions for the faithful gathered in the Assembly. They tell the story of who we are within the mystery of the Body of Christ. At the same time, they inspire and invite us to enter more deeply into the mysteries of the faith.

The sanctuary window with its glorified Cross transforms and lifts up the Crucifix. Death is embraced in the victory and transformation of the resurrection. From the glorified Cross flows blood and water, the instruments of sacramental washing and nurture. The two panel windows with their waves of water show the overflow of Christ’s life through the sacraments. The side windows show creation with Christ as the New Creation. The high window in the back of the church shows the outpouring of the Spirit, the energizing presence of the Father in the Church. In our windows we see with clarity who we are in the mystery of Christ.

CDH