by Brett Manero
A friend texted me the other night about the bells of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral ringing for the first time since the fire of April 2019. The bells – which can be heard in the video below – sound as sweet as ever, as cathedrals and bells are meant to inspire us to think of heavenly realities.
The Prophet Isaiah speaks of the coming of the Church in his second chapter:
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Isaiah 2:2-3)
The importance of the Book of Isaiah cannot be underestimated. The longest book of the Prophets, he contains the most prophecies about Christ. In this passage, he speaks of the Church as New Israel, as the “mountain” which will carry humanity into heaven for all time to come. It is rather amazing to think that Isaiah’s preaching started in the mid-700’s BC, concluding somewhere between 700 and 685 BC. He enters salvation history exactly halfway between the first Exodus out of Egypt (c. 1400 BC) and the final Exodus out of slavery to sin, the devil, and death, with the coming of Christ. Halfway between first and final Exodus, God gives the world some of the most important prophecies of Christ, the Church, and salvation.
By “latter days,” Isaiah certainly speaks of the times of the Church. You and I live in these latter days: these times between the first and second coming of Christ. By “mountain of the house of the Lord,” he clearly refers to the First Temple of Jerusalem, built upon Mt. Moriah, the very location where Abraham nearly sacrifices Isaac in Genesis. On the same mountain as Abraham’s act of faith, the Temple would be built, the very Temple that would serve as the “dwelling place” of God for centuries. The Temple, as we know, points forward to the new Temple, the Church, which unlike the Old Temple, is eternal, and exists all around the world in every time and place. “All nations shall flow to it,” meaning that it shall be indeed be universal, international, catholic.
When I read this passage from the Prophet, I also cannot but help think of the great Cathedrals of the Church throughout history. A cathedral is, of course, the parish of a bishop, with cathedra meaning “chair,” with the Cathedral being the chair of the bishop. Cathedrals are more often known for being massive, majestic, and beautiful. Their stained-glass windows and artwork is unparalleled. They are indeed our connection to God in heaven.
With prophecy, there is almost always a two-fold meaning to them: a literal and a spiritual. The spiritual meaning of Isaiah’s prophecy is obvious: the Church is the spiritual “mountain” that leads us to heaven. The literal meaning should not be ignored: with their large and impressive structures, cathedrals are recognizable from many miles away. Indeed, for centuries, it was the Cathedral that was the most easily visible building in a great city. Only since the late 1880’s have skyscrapers been a major part of cities, obscuring the traditional view of Cathedrals from the distance. Before then, the great Cathedral marked the city skyline.
Perhaps there is no greater Cathedral in the history of the Church than Notre Dame in Paris. Not only does it remind many viewers of our spiritual journey towards God in heaven, but it has also long been a symbol of Paris itself. Perhaps this is why the fire of April 2015 was incredibly shocking: that mighty Cathedral burning, after many centuries of standing tall and proud, shook many Parisians to the core.
God, indeed, makes all things new. The bells ring again. The Church goes on. The words of Isaiah the Prophet and the saving words of Jesus Christ and His Church go on. And indeed, the Church is a mystical body, a people, and not just a building, as magnificent as the buildings are.
Now that the bells of Notre Dame ring again, it’s time to bring the people of France back into the Church again as well.
