HARVEST & THANKSGIVING

In the large windows in the nave we have followed our Lord Jesus Christ from His birth in Bethlehem to His death on the cross, the resurrection, and His enthronement in glory. He is our Teacher, our Savior and Redeemer, who calls on us to help Him in the work of His Kingdom. With deep humility we thank Him for the gifts of divine grace and all good gifts with which He blesses us.

The balcony window on the north side symbolizes our prayer of thanksgiving and our need for continuing as workers together with God. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, to send out laborers into His harvest. (Matthew 9: 37)

In the right lancet a woman gathers in the sheaves, and men carry a cluster of grapes. This group reminds us of the fruit which the people of Israel found in the Promised Land: And they came to the valley of Eschol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them. (Numbers 13: 23)

For our ancestors America was the Promised Land. The ship in the upper left suggests the arrival if the Pilgrims in this country, to which they came to find freedom to worship God. They knew that we do not live by bread alone. The communion cup and the bread symbolize the gifts of nature, which become gifts of divine grace in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

A man kneels for a prayer of supplication and thanksgiving for blessings received and for help from above.