St. John Neumann Catholic Church

The southern transcept window is the first of the two large windows in the transcepts.  This window depicts the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets in Jesus. Click the icon for a larger picture of the south window:  Southern Transcept Window 1.07 Mb

ISAIAH (burning ember)
upper left
Isaiah 6: 6-7 - Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. "See," he said, "now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."

JEREMIAH (broken cistern)
upper right
Jeremiah 2: 13 - Two evils have my people done: they have forsaken me, the source of living waters; They have dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that hold no water. 

MOSES (burning bush)
center
Exodus 3: 1-15 - Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, "I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." When the LORD saw him coming over to look at it more closely, God called out to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He answered, "Here I am." God said, "Come no nearer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father," he continued, "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. But the LORD said, "I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians and lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the country of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. So indeed the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have truly noted that the Egyptians are oppressing them. Come, now! I will send you to Pharaoh to lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" He answered, "I will be with you; and this shall be your proof that it is I who have sent you: when you bring my people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this very mountain." "But," said Moses to God, "when I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' if they ask me, 'What is his name?' what am I to tell them?" God replied, "I am who am." Then he added, "This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you." God spoke further to Moses, "Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. "This is my name forever; this is my title for all generations.

EZEKIEL (flaming wheels)
lower left
Ezekiel 1: 13-21 - In among the living creatures something like burning coals of fire could be seen; they seemed like torches, moving to and fro among the living creatures. The fire gleamed, and from it came forth flashes of lightning. As I looked at the living creatures, I saw wheels on the ground, one beside each of the four living creatures. The wheels had the sparkling appearance of chrysolite, and all four of them looked the same: they were constructed as though one wheel were within another. They could move in any of the four directions they faced, without veering as they moved. The four of them had rims, and I saw that their rims were full of eyes all around. When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living creatures were raised from the ground, the wheels also were raised. Wherever the spirit wished to go, there the wheels went, and they were raised together with the living creatures; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

DANIEL (lion)
lower right
Daniel 6: 16-27 - But these men insisted. "Keep in mind, O king," they said, "that under the Mede and Persian law every royal prohibition or decree is irrevocable." So the king ordered Daniel to be brought and cast into the lions' den. To Daniel he said, "May your God, whom you serve so constantly, save you." To forestall any tampering, the king sealed with his own ring and the rings of the lords the stone that had been brought to block the opening of the den. Then the king returned to his palace for the night; he refused to eat and he dismissed the entertainers. Since sleep was impossible for him, the king rose very early the next morning and hastened to the lions' den. As he drew near, he cried out to Daniel sorrowfully, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has the God whom you serve so constantly been able to save you from the lions?" Daniel answered the king: "O king, live forever! My God has sent his angel and closed the lions' mouths so that they have not hurt me. For I have been found innocent before him; neither to you have I done any harm, O king!" This gave the king great joy. At his order Daniel was removed from the den, unhurt because he trusted in his God. The king then ordered the men who had accused Daniel, along with their children and their wives, to be cast into the lions' den. Before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones. Then King Darius wrote to the nations and peoples of every language, wherever they dwell on the earth: "All peace to you! I decree that throughout my royal domain the God of Daniel is to be reverenced and feared: "For he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be without end.

AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE WINDOW

THE 12 "I AM" STATEMENTS OF JESUS

THE 12 MINOR PROPHETS

1

ALPHA (the 1^st letter of the Greek Alphabet)
Revelation 1: 17 and 22: 13 - When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

MALACHI (rising sun)
Malachi 1: 11 - For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.

2

OMEGA (the last letter of the Greek Alphabet)
Revelation 1: 17 and 22: 13 - When I caught sight of him, I fell down at his feet as though dead. He touched me with his right hand and said, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the one who lives... I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

HOSEA (cloak)
Hosea 2: 3, 10 - [The prophecy pivots around Hosea's unfortunate marriage to Gomer.  Gomer, the adultress, symbolized faithless Israel.  And just as Hosea could not give up his wife forever even when she played the harlot, so Yahweh could not renounce Israel, who had been betrothed to him.  God would chastise, but it would be the chastisement of the jealous lover, longing to bring back the beloved to the fresh and pure joy of their first love.  Israel's infidelity took the form of idolatry and ruthless oppression of the poor.  No amount of mechanically offered sacrifices could atone for her serious sins.  Chastisement alone remained; God would have to strip her of the rich ornaments bestowed by her false lovers and thus bring her back to the true lover.  A humiliated Israel would again seek Yahweh.]

3

LIGHT OF THE WORLD
John 8: 12 - Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

JOEL (trumpets)
Joel 2: 1, 15 - Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming... Blow the trumpet in Zion! proclaim a fast, call an assembly

4

GOOD SHEPHERD
John 10:11 - I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

AMOS (shepherd's crook)
Amos 7: 14-15 - Amos answered Amaziah, "I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser of sycamores. The LORD took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people Israel.

5

GATE
John 10: 7, 9 - So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep... I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture."

OBADIAH (bread)
Obadiah 1: 7 - ...Those who eat your bread lay snares beneath you: There is no understanding in him! [The prophecy is a bitter cry for vengeance against Edom for its heinous crimes. The mountain of Esau will be occupied and ravaged by the enemy but Zion shall remain inviolate. Judah and Israel shall again form one nation; and that triumphant refrain of Israelite eschatology will be heard once more: "The Kingdom is the Lord's!"] 

6

VINE
John 15: 5 - I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.

JONAH (whale)
Jonah 1: 17; 2: 1, 10 - ... the sea was growing more and more turbulent.  Jonah said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you; since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon you."...they cried to the LORD: "We beseech you, O LORD, let us not perish for taking this man's life; do not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit."  Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea's raging abated...But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah; and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights...But I, with resounding praise, will sacrifice to you; What I have vowed I will pay: deliverance is from the LORD.

7

BREAD OF LIFE
John 6: 48 - I am the bread of life.

MICAH (plow)
Micah 4: 3 - He shall judge between many peoples and impose terms on strong and distant nations; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again.

8

THE WAY
John 14: 6 - Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..."

NAHUM (yoke)
Nahum 1: 12-13 - For, says the LORD, be they ever so many and so vigorous, still they shall be mown down and disappear. Though I have humbled you, I will humble you no more. Now will I break his yoke from off you, and burst asunder your bonds.

9

THE TRUTH
John 14: 6 - Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..."

HABBAKUK (temple)
Habbakuk 2: 30 - But the LORD is in his holy temple; silence before him, all the earth!

10

THE LIFE
John 14: 6 - Jesus said to him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me..."

ZEPHANIAH (sword over city)
Zephaniah 3: 1-5 - Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted, to the tyrannical city! She hears no voice, accepts no correction; In the LORD she has not trusted, to her God she has not drawn near. Her princes in her midst are roaring lions; Her judges are wolves of the night that have had no bones to gnaw by morning. Her prophets are insolent, treacherous men; Her priests profane what is holy, and do violence to the law. The LORD within her is just, who does no wrong; Morning after morning he renders judgment unfailingly, at dawn.

11

I AM
John 8: 24, 28 - That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins."... So Jesus said (to them), "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me."

HAGGAI (The Temple Rebuilt)
Haggai 1: 2 - 2: 5 - Thus says the LORD of hosts: This people says: "Not now has the time come to rebuild the house of the LORD."...This is the pact that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear!

12

THE RESURRECTION
John 11: 25 - Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live..."

ZECHARIAH (stampeding stallions)
Zechariah 1: 7-11 - Silence in the presence of the Lord GOD! for near is the day of the LORD, Yes, the LORD has prepared a slaughter feast, he has consecrated his guests. On the day of the LORD'S slaughter feast I will punish the princes, and the king's sons, and all that dress in foreign apparel. I will punish, on that day, all who leap over the threshold, Who fill the house of their master with violence and deceit. On that day, says the LORD, A cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the New Quarter, loud crashing from the hills. Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! for all the merchants will be destroyed, all who weigh out silver, done away with.