Weekly Bulletin Typology Series As I mentioned in my first bulletin article, I have a background in Literature and a particular interest in Sacred Scripture. For me, one of the most interesting ways of studying the Bible is studying the spiritual meaning of Scripture, and specifically the allegorical or typological meanings. I would like to share with you some of the amazing and beautiful symbols that are part of this method of learning from the Scripture. First, however, let me explain what exactly I’m talking about. Because the Bible was primarily written by God Himself—the Holy Spirit inspiring the secondary, human authors—the Sacred Scriptures can have more than one legitimate meaning. Of course, the foundational meaning is the literal sense of the words; as St. Thomas Aquinas says, “All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal” (Catechism of the Catholic Church par. 115). Beyond that, however, there are the spiritual senses of Scripture. These can be categorized under the three general headings of the moral sense (which teaches us how we should live), the anagogical or eschatological sense (which teaches us about eternal realities), and the allegorical or typological sense. This final sense is the one that I am particularly interested in. The allegorical sense of Sacred Scripture is when, for example, a person or event in the Old Testament prefigures something about Jesus Christ and His Church in the New Testament. That is, when we see all things in their fullness by viewing reality through Jesus Christ. Typology can also mean using non-scriptural sources as symbols of Jesus and the Church, for example, the butterfly as a sign of Resurrection. The allegorical interpretation of Scripture was used a lot by the Early Church Fathers, but they did not invent it. Actually, Jewish Scripture scholars had developed this sort of interpretation before Jesus ever became incarnate. There are even some places in the Sacred Scriptures themselves where typology is used. Consider the following passages from Jesus Himself, as well as St. Paul: “But [Jesus] answered them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” (Matthew 12:39-40) “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15) “…Adam […] was a type of the one who was to come [i.e., Jesus].” (Romans 5:14b) “It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants.” (Galatians 4:22-24) It has been the Church’s method for centuries to help her children understand the Bible and the faith better through the use of typological symbols. What I hope to do is provide a regular bulletin column (not normally this long) that will reintroduce you to some of the ancient and universal images and symbols that the Church has used. This will help you be able not only to read Sacred Scripture better, but also to understand more about the sacred liturgy, to ‘read’ more easily the images in stained glass windows and religious art, and it can even spice up your meditations and prayer life! So, be on the lookout next weekend for our first typology lesson. Bees and the Beehive The beehive is an ancient symbol, or type, of the Church, the People of God. This is because it is a hierarchically arrayed community that exists in perfect harmony. Each member has its own job and contributes to the building up of the hive as a whole. Obviously, this is how the Church is meant function as well. In fact, the Church Triumphant in Heaven already does exist in this ordered and harmonious way. We, the Church Militant on earth, must still strive to grow in our communion of love and obedience. Bees themselves are also types of the Christian life since, as science has demonstrated, they guide themselves by the sun. Likewise, the Christian guides himself by the true Sun, the Son of God, Who is the Light of the world. Furthermore, bees make wax and honey. This wax is used to make candles. In fact, you will notice at the Easter Vigil that the passage about the bees has been put back into the Exultet chant thanks to the new translation of the liturgy. Come to Easter Vigil Mass and you will hear: “…O holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands….” In the liturgy, candles represent Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. This is why we, as Christians, also carry candles during the Easter Vigil and at Baptism—because, as Christians, Christ is in us, and we also become the light of the world: “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14). Finally, bees make honey, which is, in one sense, a typological symbol of the Blood of Jesus Christ given to us in the Most Holy Eucharist. Thus, we read, “I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Ps. 81:16). Just as the beehive is full of honey that the bees drink, so Mother Church is the storehouse of the Precious Blood of Christ that we Christians drink and are sustained by. The Rainbow The rainbow makes its first appearance in salvation history after God destroys all the evil men on the earth, and with them all other life, except for Noah and his family and the animals with him on the ark. The rainbow becomes the sign of the new covenant that God makes with Noah—a sign of the Lord’s mercy and protection: And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Gen. 9:12-16) Of course, the true New Covenant, the definitive and everlasting one, is the one God makes with us in Jesus Christ. So, the sign of the rainbow finds its fulfillment in Jesus, the ultimate symbol of God and of the Covenant. In other words, the rainbow is a type, a foreshadowing of Christ’s New Covenant; that’s typology. But let’s dig deeper. We can understand and experience more about pure light by using a prism to split it into the seven visible light spectra of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). In fact, rainbows are actually formed because tiny drops of water that are up in the air act just like prisms and split the light into its seven spectra. In a similar way, we can come to understand and experience more about Jesus Christ, Who is “the true light that enlightens every man” (Jn. 1:9), because He has ‘split up,’ so to speak, His unapproachable light into seven beautiful streams of His grace. Or, we might say, that He has poured out the infinite ocean (or flood!) of His grace into seven streams. These seven wonderful streams are, of course, the Seven Sacraments that He has entrusted to His Church. It is unfortunate that in contemporary society the rainbow has become associated with certain immoral philosophies of life. While we cannot stop people from adding meanings to ancient symbols that are contrary to the meanings that they have for us, it is important for Catholics to remember the true meaning that the symbol of the rainbow has, rooted in God’s revelation and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, so that its beauty and significance is not lost for us. Gideon the Judge and the Virginal Conception of Holy Mary So far, we’ve been looking at natural symbols, but now we turn to a symbol that comes from a particular moment in salvation history. In the Book of Judges, chapters 6-8, we hear how the Lord raises up Gideon, the least member of the weakest family of the weakest tribe (i.e., Manasseh), to save Israel (see Judg. 6:15). We could definitely talk about how Gideon’s being raised by God from lowliness to the role of a savior makes him a type, a prefiguration, of Jesus Christ. However, there is a particular typological image that is usually highlighted in the story, namely, the miracle of the fleece. In order to make sure that his calling is truly from God, Gideon asks God to give him a sign (see 6:36-38): he will lay the fleece of a sheep out on the ground overnight.